Nikauly Tejada, who lost everything in a fire, says that “it was the only thing we had, we barely had a year to move here, we succeeded through hard work, I don’t work but I ‘ve done a bit of everything to get things done.”
Nikauly faces the little that remains of her house while holding her son’s hand.
“Everything happened so fast, if my husband hadn’t arrived today the story would have been different, I would have burned myself with the children because we were lying down and when he arrives, he tells me, he burns” , says Tejada .
Juan Antonio Perez says:
“I came home from work between 5:30 and 6 a.m., my wife was sleeping with the children, I opened the door and the fire was already coming inside everything.”
Juan says he doesn’t know what caused the fire in his house, but he thinks it could be a short circuit that originated outside the property.
He assures that these are the most desperate times this family has ever known.
“Too fast, it just gave me time to run with my kids because they were coming really strong and get them here,” says Juan.
But Chiquita, as the family dog was called, could not be saved.
When help arrived, it was already too late, the fire had spread to the entire property and they had already lost everything, including their two cars.
Now they live across the street in Juan’s brother-in-law’s house, all 4 adults and two little ones in one room.
For now, they are receiving help from the Red Cross but on their own, they have opened a virtual fund to receive help from the community.