Former Fort Myers city councilman visits...

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

Former Fort Myers City Councilman Levon Simms says he still thinks about the disaster from a month ago on Christmas Day when a garage fire caused him and his wife to be displaced.

"A lot of it can be replaced, some can't be replaced, but you still have to think positive and move on," Simms told NBC2.

Simms brought NBC2 inside Friday morning. It was hard for him. We couldn't go inside last month because it wasn't safe, according to officials.

"So I've seen a few things. This right here is probably, I don't know, maybe up there," Simms said.

Inside his home, you could see blown installations everywhere, but things like family pictures, books and art were still standing tall. Simms is looking on the bright side.

"You have to think about as bad as you're doing. There's something in the world that is worse than you are," he said.

He and his wife are currently staying at a hotel nearby, before moving to an apartment. He used Friday to look for an item that means everything to him. A basketball from his coaching days at North Fort Myers High School, from an incredible season.

"We put together a program and, you know, some of the names on there are kind of important to me because you get older, you forget people," Simms said.

The players signed the ball, but among those signatures is a name he will never forget: the legend Deion Sanders, also known as Primetime.

"First time North Fort Myers High School had won a district championship, this was my third year of coaching," he said.

He says these are the memories that keep him going.

"I'm going to take my basketball, and I'll sleep on it tonight," he said, laughing.

Simms may be displaced from his home, but the Fort Myers Fire Department says the home isn't a total loss. For now, he is looking forward to the day he can move back into his home and create new memories.