Habitat family loses everything in Welland fire
After only living in their new Habitat for Humanity home for about two months, the Vicentes family has been displaced.
A Saturday afternoon fire at a residential garage on Bradley Avenue spread to the Vicentes’ family home next door at 47 Sauer Ave.
Juan and Luz Vicentes moved into the home built by Habitat for Humanity with their three children in July.
Karen Dolyniuk, chief development officer with the organization, said the family is in shock.
Welland Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Chief Adam Eckhart said the house sustained extensive damage. Both the house and neighbouring garage has about $600,000 worth of damage. The fire spread from the garage to a nearby fence, then to the Vicentes house.
Eckhart said there is extensive damage to the roof and attic. He said firefighters did a good job preventing the fire from spreading to the rest of the house, but the attic collapsed, causing interior damage.
Dolyniuk said the family has lost everything.
They moved to Canada from Colombia in 2012, later moving to Niagara in 2015.
During the weekend the organization paid for the family to stay in a Niagara Falls hotel. Dolyniuk said they checked out of the hotel Tuesday and Habitat for Humanity was looking to place them in a hotel in Welland. On Saturday night the organization’s staff took the family shopping to buy backto-school supplies for the three children.
Dolyniuk said the process is in the early stages, but Habitat for Humanity staff are assisting the family with their insurance claim. Right now though, the family has nothing, so Dolyniuk said a Go Fund Me page has been created to help. She said the money will provide them with basic necessities, including clothing.
“Insurance will cover a lot, but won’t replace everything. They need money for immediate assistance,” she said.
Dolyniuk said the house is most likely a writeoff, so she’s not sure what will happen moving forward. But she said the organization will be there to assist every step of the way.
To make donations visit https:// www.gofundme.com/2fbpe-family-of-5-lost-all-in-fire. The goal is to raise $5,000 for the family. As of Tuesday afternoon about $2,000 had been raised.
Dolyniuk said the Niagara community is known for its generosity, so she is positive people will help the Vicentes family. The Vicentes’ neighbour was processing biodiesel in his garage when an electrical pump used to filter cooking oil used in the process ignited the blaze.