When fire swept through an Oak Park home before sunrise Wednesday, three families and their pets managed to escape.
Though they made it out alive, Dulce Garcia and her sisters are worried about where they and their families will go.
“We just lost everything. Everything,” Garcia said. “All of our belongings. Everything. It’s gone.”
Garcia and her husband awakened to the fire at approximately 4:30 a.m. inside the home at 53rd Street and Shelby.
The couple went separate ways and rushed to awaken all of their family members. According to the family, a total of 17 people, including 12 children, were living in the home.
Everyone made it out without injury. One dog needed oxygen from firefighters but appeared to recover quickly.
The single-story home was so close to neighboring homes that San Diego Fire-Rescue considered other buildings to be threatened.
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“It was going from front to back,” Battalion Chief Steve Salaz said. “We were concerned about the fire spreading to one of the homes next door.”
Salaz said there were some modifications done to the home to accommodate the three families living inside.
Garcia said she doesn’t know how the fire started. Flames were spotted in one of the home’s living rooms.
Garcia is worried about her family’s future especially since she and her husband are in the process of adopting three children.
The San Diego chapter of the American Red Cross was contacted to offer help to the families left without a place to stay.
