Help These San Juan Families Who Lost Everything To Fire

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — The daughter of a San Juan Capistrano family that lost everything in a terrible house fire in November hosted a fundraiser in the same San Juan Capistrano neighborhood where their home used to stand. The family also has a Go Fund Me page for those wishing to donate (https://www.gofundme.com/fired-tragedy).

In early November, a fast-moving blaze ripped through a four unit condominium building in the 32000 Block of Paseo Carolina. OCFA firefighter paramedics arrived quickly on-scene and knocked the fire down swiftly — but the damage to the original units interior was done. If not for the firefighters- the nearby units, housing more families, would surely have smoldered as well.

Last week, the fire displaced four families, their children and pets, just weeks before the holiday season is set to begin.

First-floor unit resident Esteban Nava was in the garage cleaning his car when he heard a neighbor screaming, ““FIRE,” “FIRE,” said the 19-year old Nava. “My first thought was to go inside and get my dog.”

Nava opened the family’s downstairs unit door to their condo, and was met with a horrid scene.

“The downstairs was all black with smoke and flames,” Nava recalled last Sunday immediately after OCFA firefighters had knockdown of the fire, but were engaged in overhaul of the scene. The roof to the complex scorched torn open with holes — a firefighting tactic used to force the smoke and flames upwards and out.

“I was calling for my dog — but he was scared and shaking, and thankfully found him hiding in a corner,” Nava said. Nava endured the thick, heavy smoke and flames — without any breathing apparatus or fire protection gear, to find his dog.

Nava grabbed the small, shivering and helpless dog and fled the unit, he said last week from the grass area across from the burned unit where all residents displaced stood - some cried softly to themselves.

They blinked in disbelief at the scene in front of them. Just minutes before, families here were preparing for the work week. Now, they were homeless. Large, red fire apparatus with hose lines, water, and firefighting tools lined the cul de sac. Professional firefighters in turnouts, SCBAs and heavy rubber boots walking every inch of the building to stomp out every last ember and hot spot.

Bebe, the Nava family’s the 14-year old toy breed of light tan coloring, still remained shook while her owners held her and comforted her afterwards. Surely, this little dog was scared for her life inside the blackening home she once sought such comfort in. But they fought for her.

And she rested the best she could afterwards in the arms of her loving owners — despite their soft cries for all they just lost in the fire. Their furnishings. Momentos. A lifetime to collect. Gone in minutes from heat and flames that don’t discriminate against family heirlooms and vegetation brush. Fuel is fuel to a fire.

The woman who first identified the fire was 27-year old Andrea Velazquez. She had stopped by Paseo Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 5th around 1:30 pm to drop her dog Twinkie off at her Mom’s for the week — a routine each week for Twinkie so she can be watched while Velazquez works.

Velazquez’s Mom lives in the unit adjacent to the one that caught fire.

Velazquez said she looked into the doorway of the building next to theirs and saw flames near the stairs.

Velazquez spoke from the grass last Sunday, alongside her displaced neighbors. She held Twinkie tight in her arms — another Toy breed, light in color with large eyes, just taking in the chaotic scene.

Velazquez said she saw the flames and for a moment, couldn’t register them — thinking the flames location in the neighbors home as odd since the units don’t have a fireplace near the downstairs staircase.

Then she realized it was a fire and she just started screaming, “FIRE!”, “FUEGO!”, she recalled.

But what happened next underscores the importance of what fire professionals urge to the public from all walks of life to do in an emergency — remain calm.

Velazquez was in such a state of shock, fear and adrenaline— she could not dial 911. So she got into her car parked nearby and just started honking wildly in an effort to warn people still inside the burning building.

“My hands wouldn’t work. They were frozen and heavy. I couldn’t remember my security code to open my phone to dial 911,” she recalled. “My hands felt like bricks. But this is just is a reminder how important fire safety is and for everyone to know what to do. To have smoke alarms. How to evacuate. And how to to be calm and dial 911.”

So someone else nearby hearing her screams and wails dialed for help.

“The windows were exploding, smoke was blowing everywhere, people were helping people to evacuate from the building,” Velazquez recalled.

And then OCFA firefighters were on scene to take over, soon to be aided by the incredibly kind and compassionate workers from the American Red Cross — who offered residents in shock blankets, water, and hope for some normalcy with a plan of action on what steps to take next.

Today’s fundraiser and Go Fund Me account for the Nava family will help them take more steps forward, each day, again...towards a new normal. But one that all of them can take together— thankfully all unharmed by the fire — Bebe included.

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https://www.gofundme.com/fired-tragedy

“My parents lost their house to a terrible house fire accident and left with nothing. Just asking for donations. Every cent helps. All their hard work is gone. Thank you in advance and bless you all.

Mis papás perdieron su casa en un accidente de fuego. Se kedaron sin nada y estamos pidiendo por donasiones con lo que puedan. Todo su trabajo de ellos se perdio y se kedaron sin nada. Se los agradesco mucho y que Dios los bendiga.”