Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Firefighte­rs aid victims with new place to live

- By Brian Ballou Staff writer

Glenton Daley has cried tears of despair in the days since a fire destroyed his family’s apartment and all their possession­s. He worried how he would find a new place in time to welcome his granddaugh­ter, who is due next month.

On Wednesday afternoon, he shed tears of gratitude.

The Lauderhill FireRescue Department threw his pregnant daughter Nicola Taylor a surprise baby shower at Station 57, the same crew that responded to the April 10 blaze.

And the shower came with keys to a new apartment, with the first three months rent paid.

“You guys have been throughway too much this week and we want to just try to turn it around a little bit, so here are your keys to your new apartment, Mr. Daley,” said Lauderhill Fire Captain Jerry Gonzalez.

Daley, 50, wiped away Lauderhill Fire Captain Jerry Gonzalez

tears and said, “All I had ... was one shirt and one pair of pants. I never knew that firefighte­rs did stuff like this, it is new to me. I thought they were there just to put out fires. Now I have a key, I can go sleep.”

Taylor also teared up as she spoke to reporters inside the station. “We really didn’t expect somuch,” she said. She added that in the time since the blaze left her, her father, her sister and her sister’s small child with almost nothing, the concern on the part of the fire department has been obvious.

The family has staying at a hotel.

“They call every they call every single been

day, day,” she said. “Asking eaten or areOK.”

The blaze on the 2550 block of Northwest 41st Ave. is thought to be accidental, but authoritie­s have not ruled out an electrical malfunctio­n.

During the fire, another woman, Oshina Graham, faced a terrifying choice — tossing her young children off her fourth-floor balcony or waiting for firefighte­rs to arrive to save them. Firefighte­rs got there in time to rescue the family with a ladder.

Firefighte­rs responded to theDaley family’s plight. Calls were made to charities and the donations poured in.

The Boca Raton organizati­on Sweet Dream Makers found out about the the baby shower only hours earlier, but was able to secure beds and a crib for the family, and on Saturday will visit the family at their new apartment with a truckload of furniture. if we’ve

bballou@sunsentine­l.com or 954-356-4188

 ?? MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? Nicola Taylor got the keys to a new apartment at a surprise baby shower by firefighte­rs at Station 57 in Lauderhill.
MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPH­ER Nicola Taylor got the keys to a new apartment at a surprise baby shower by firefighte­rs at Station 57 in Lauderhill.

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