Community helps Paso Robles man, dog who lost home in RV fire: ‘Everybody has been so nice’

Billy Tosch went on a walk with his dog, Sadie, for about an hour on Friday evening.

When he came back to his recreational vehicle home, parked in the Walmart parking lot in Paso Robles, he smelled smoke.

Quickly realizing there was a fire in the front seat of the RV, Tosch tried patting out the flames with his hands. When his hands burned, he threw a blanket and a jacket on top of the fire — but nothing could stop it.

“The thing went up so quick,” Tosch said. “I put (Sadie) out first and then I had to crawl out.”

Tosch thinks that the wiring from his solar panels sparked the fire. The Paso Robles Fire Department did what it could, Tosch said, but nearly all of his belongings burned in the fire.

Community members raise money, donations for Paso Robles man

On Saturday, Elizabeth Denny posted on Facebook about Tosch’s burned RV with a call for donations.

By Sunday morning, the post on Denny’s page, The Positive Change Movement, garnered more than 80 reactions and 75 shares from community members.

Late Saturday night, Denny created a GoFundMe page for Tosch to “help get him back on his feet.”

“Times are hard, I totally get it. If you aren’t able to donate cash, please consider donating supplies,” Denny wrote on the GoFundMe page.

As of Sunday afternoon, the GoFundMe fundraiser “Help Billy Tosch get a new RV!” had raised more than $1,700 toward its $5,000 goal.

Several people have dropped off bags of dog food for Sadie, Tosch said, and he’s also gotten cleaning supplies and clothes.

“I’m so surprised by this response,” Tosch said. “Everybody has been so nice. I will never again say that people hate the homeless because people have really come through for me.”

SLO County resident called RV home for 2 years

Tosch said he moved from the San Jose area to San Luis Obispo in 2002 “just to get a change of pace,” he said. “It’s slower here.”

With a bad back — Tosch said he’s living with degenerative disc disease — he’s unable to work. His money comes from Social Security disability benefits, he said.

“I barely make $1,000 a month, so if I rent a place, I’d have money for rent and nothing else,” he said.

He chooses to live in a recreation vehicle in part so he can pay for Sadie’s food.

For about two years, Tosch called the RV home. He parked it at a ranch for a time before moving to the Paso Robles Walmart just a few days before the fire, he said.

But now his home has gone up in flames, and Tosch said all he wants to do is go to Austin, Texas, to see his mother — whom he said he hasn’t seen in about 10 years.

Tosch said the response to news of his lost home has been overwhelming.

“A lot of people have come to see me,” he said. “A lot of people I don’t know. It’s hard, with the camper being gone, but everything happens for a reason. So maybe this is a blessing in disguise, who knows?”

To donate to the GoFundMe fundraiser for Billy Tosch, go to gofund.me/d6a4ba93. Supplies can be dropped off at the Walmart parking lot at 180 Niblick Road in Paso Robles.

This story was originally published February 28, 2021 at 12:45 PM.