Home of Avoca family is gutted by inferno
An Avoca family has lost everything after their home was destroyed by a wildfire in California.
Kevin Kinsella, his wife Emily and three young children live in a rural area of North California close to the state border with Oregon. The family’s home and possessions, along with many other neighbouring properties, were lost last Wednesday in a wildfire known as the Slater Fire.
Kevin’s siter Kalinda Healy told this paper that the family have been left traumatised by the experience.
‘Emily and the three kids left, but Kevin stayed behind with the animals. By the time, he went to leave the route Emily had taken was closed.’
Kevin could not get out of the area the same way as Emily due to the speed of the fire. During his escape, he stopped to help someone and the family’s dogs jumped from the car. Thankfully, the pets have since been found.
The Kinsella family was separated from one another for a few days with Kevin forced to travel to the east to escape the blaze. They have since reunited and stayed temporariily with friends before moving to hotel accommodation provided by the Red Cross.
Kalinda said Emily and the children, eight-year-old Kevin and 18-month-old twins Celeste and Grace, are now staying with family while Kevin remains in
temporary accommodation in the town of Yreka.
Kevin’s parents and family members here in Wicklow are hoping to get the family-of-five back safely to Ireland.
‘ They are homeless. We are hoping to get them all back here,’ Ms Healy said.
Kevin has lived in the United States for 15 years. The family bought their home and 12 acres of land in Northern California four years ago.
The Kinsella family in Avoca are well-known for their long assocation with Avoca GAA. Ms Healy said her parents, Kevin and Josephine, are ‘devastated’ by the situation, but are grateful for the help offered to Kevin
anand his family over the lastlas week. A GoFunGoFundMe page was set up by friends of the Kinsella family to help to cover the costs of temporary accommodation, food and clothes for the family. The money will also help the family to rebuild their lives. Many people in Wicklow have made generous contributions with over $15,700 (€13,198) raised so far to help the family.
‘We want to thank everyone for their generosity, particularly the people over there who have helped them. When Kevin first got out, Emily put out a call looking for a bed for him for a few hours as he was exhausted. People he didn’t know offered him somewhere to sleep. It was very kind,’ Ms Healy added.
The Slater Fire is believed to have started on the night of Monday, September 7 and is one of a number of wildfires affecting the western coast of the United States. The fire has affected an area of over 131,000 acres according to InciWeb, a public risk information portal. The Californian Fire Service said on Monday that there were 28 major fires across the state with 16,500 firefighters working to contain them. Since the start of 2020, over 3.2 million acres have been destroyed by wildfires in California resulting in the destruction of over 5,000 homes and at least 24 deaths.
If you’d like to make a donation, please visit www. gofundme.com/f/kinsella-family-loses-all-to-fire.