(Seguin) — A local family is left with even more heartbreak during this already difficult year. The family of Kelsie Garcia and Luis Lopez, Jr. are busy picking up the pieces, this week, after their home was destroyed by fire just minutes after finishing up their Thanksgiving meal on Thursday.
Thanks to a home motion, sound detector device that notifies her cell phone, Garcia says her family, who was enjoying the meal at her mom’s house, was able to rush back to save what they could at their home located in the 700 block of Boenig St. Garcia says what she initially thought was an alert about a car alarm quickly turned into one of her worst nightmares.
“I got my phone and picked it up again and said ‘it’s not right! It doesn’t sound like a car alarm’ and I picked it back up again and I told them, ‘it sounds like a smoke alarm! It really sounds like a smoke alarm. That a smoke alarm is going off.’ I jumped up and ran through the house and I went and told my mom ‘mom, my smoke alarms are going off. I’ve got to go.’ I ran out the door and jumped in my car and I called my neighbor and asked can you please do me a favor? If you hear something, if you see something, please let me know. He said, ‘I’m right around the corner. Let me turn back.’ He turned back. By the time, he called me, I was already around the corner. He said, there’s smoke coming out the vent and sure enough, I jumped out of the car and I just told him can you call 9-1-1. Call 9-1-1!” said Garcia.
Upon arriving, Garcia says all they could do was try to find her daughter’s Chihuahua named Dumplin and help put out the flames.
“My husband rushed through the house. We had a dog inside who just had puppies a few weeks ago and we couldn’t find the dog and my husband is trying to look through the house to find her to see where she is at. I was in panic mode I guess being in shock and my husband is looking for where the fire is at and got the water hose in and my neighbor helped us with water hoses and we got the water hoses through the window and started spraying water everywhere,” said Garcia.
Luckily, Garcia says her family was spared the additional heartache and Dumplin was quickly located and rescued by Seguin Fire Fighters.
“I cried and I appreciate all they did looking for her because I guess it was just me being in shock, I just kept saying, please find that dog. Please find her. That’s my daughter’s dog and you know, my daughter, she’s got the biggest heart and I’d hate for me to have to break the news to her that her dog happened to be the only one that was left in the house and she passed away because of that. So, I kept on, please, please find her and they finally found her in the room where the fire was at. They found her all the way underneath my bed. That’s where they found her,” said Garcia.
Unfortunately, however, one of the three puppies that were able to be pulled out by the family did not end up surviving and died on Sunday.
Garcia says the house fire is only the latest in a series of challenges and tragedies for the family. She says her family is still in the process of healing after COVID-19 claimed the life of her husband’s father back in July.
“My kids, me, my husband, we all caught COVID in July back when he (father-in-law) caught COVID and unfortunately, he didn’t make it. We went through that back in July and trying to get back on our feet. We missed an entire month of work and it’s been a struggle since then and then having the kids go to school. We struggled to get the kids what they needed for school and we managed to do it but we’ve kind of had it tough since July. We’ve had a rough few month,” said Garcia.
Even through all that the family has experienced, Garcia says she remains appreciative to all those who have shown their support and who continue to help donate to her family.
“First off, I’d like to thank everybody that has (donated). I know that there’s people out of work and we’ve had a lot of people already start donating. We appreciate all that. Number one, we just ask for their continuous prayers. Prayers are what is getting us by, and we appreciate my family and the fire fighters that were out there that day that did everything that they could to calm us down and talk to us and help us number one, find my daughter’s dog. That was the big blessing for us. We can’t ask for a lot. We know the holidays are around the corner but whatever anybody can and is willing to (do), we would appreciate anything that we can get,” said Garcia.
Parker’s Building Supply is the latest to step in and help the family. Garcia, an employee at Parker’s, says she’s grateful that the business has chosen to help accept donations from the community. A GoFundMe account has also been established to help the family get back on its feet. Garcia says they’ll be staying with family while they continue to work on cleaning and repairing the home.
She says with Christmas just weeks away, it makes this experience that much harder for her family especially her young children. The couple’s three children include Lana, 13; Lyla, 8 and Luis III, 6.
Cash, gift cards and cleaning supplies are what the family is currently needing at this time.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.