I am at a loss for words today.
Yesterday morning at approximately 5:30 am my boyfriend and I were awaken by the house phone. We just moved to Florida a couple of weeks ago and currently live with his mom. It was his brother calling to say that the house he and his dad, two nephews and one niece lived in had burnt down.
Having only been here for two weeks I had only been inside of that house once. A week ago his brother got into a car accident and his dad was scheduled to appear in court yesterday afternoon because the house they lived in was to be foreclosed. Although the fire was put out relatively quickly and the damage doesn't look like it affected the entire house from the outside, everything on the inside of the house is completely gone and anything that wasn't burned by the flames was melted by the heat.
Now his older brother, disabled dad, and his two nephews and niece ages 7, 5, and 3 have no home. They are staying at a hotel currently provides by the Red Cross but they can only stay until tomorrow and their dog Roxy is still at the house (or what's left of it) because she has nowhere else to go, and because it rains in Florida all the time and it has been thunder storming all day, the only shelter she has is inside the part of the house that is still standing and there is a lot of debris that could hurt her not to mention the smell is probably affecting her sensitive nose. She is a bull dog and all the shelters around here are high-kill shelters.
The oldest of the children, the 7 year old, was concerned about his brand new bike he just got for his birthday. The 5 year old kept asking when they were going to be allowed to go back inside and the 3 year old girl wanted her toys while they ran barefoot around the front yard because they barely had time to get out of the house.
His dad was awakened by the smoke alarm and woke up the other four and got out with only a pair of boxers and his false teeth which only survived because they were submerged in water. He said the fire was only in the trash can when he was awoken and by the time they got out the heat and smoke was almost overwhelming. Fortunately he was the only one who needed any medical attention. He was on oxygen for a brief amount of time.
Everything they owned is gone and they only have one day left in the hotel. He's looking for places to rent but I don't know how that kind of stuff works when all personal documents such as his ID, ss card, birth certificate, diploma, etc... were all lost in the fire. They need all new belongings and furnishings and they had little to begin with. They also may not have any insurance coverage.
For those of you wondering, the cause of the fire was an oil lamp they were using for light because the electricity was turned off the day before (thank goodness smoke alarms are battery operated, right?). They had a cat that could get in and out of the house through a hole of some sort and they think he may have knocked the lamp into the trash. He was reportedly seen outside of the house so they do believe he escaped the fire.
Please keep them in your thoughts. They could sure use it.
