Paso Robles family lost everything when fire destroyed their home. Here’s how to help
Obed Uzeta was in class at Liberty High School in Paso Robles when a friend showed him photos of a fire at the Dry Creek Apartments.
The 16-year-old quickly recognized the second-floor unit as his home and realized fire had destroyed his family’s apartment.
“I had a small panic attack, and then I ran outside of my classroom and I called my dad just to check up on him,” Obed said. “He tried to calm me down and tell me that nothing burnt. But deep down, I had a feeling that we lost everything.”
Obed’s worst fears were realized later when he learned the fire had destroyed his family’s apartment, burning everything inside and killing his pet guinea pig, Winnie.
His brother and uncle were home when the fire broke out and escaped by jumping out of the second-floor window. Both were uninjured.
40 Paso Robles residents displaced by fire
The fire at the eight-unit building at 1211 Alamo Creek started the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 21, and displaced 40 residents, said Randy Harris, battalion chief of the Paso Robles Fire and Emergency Services Department. There were no human injuries or fatalities, though Winnie and a neighbor’s dog did die in the fire.
Two units were destroyed in the fire, the Uzeta family’s apartment and that of their first-floor neighbor.
The fire also spread to the attic where the power supply for the entire building is stored, Harris said. Since the power supply for the building was destroyed in the fire, even residents with undamaged apartments are currently displaced.
The fire started on an outside porch area of the apartment and spread quickly because doors were open at the time of the fire, Harris said. The Fire Department escalated its response to the blaze because several people were still asleep inside the building after the flames broke out. The Fire Department has not determined what caused the fire.
Next week is National Fire Prevention Week, and Harris said this particular fire has two good lessons for community members: first, the need for working smoke alarms, and second, to shut doors when there’s a fire.
“I think the two biggest things are why did the fire grow so fast, and that’s obviously because of the doors being open, and that having working smoke detectors would have gotten those people awake even sooner,” Harris said.
How you can help the impacted families
The Dry Creek Apartments was home to the Uzeta family for more than a decade, Obed said.
He lived there with his father, Toribio Uzeta, and mother Manuela Garcia, three brothers and his 5-year-old sister. In the aftermath of the fire, the family is staying with relatives in Shandon and commuting to Paso Robles while they search for permanent housing.
“We’re really mentally drained and stressed,” Obed said.
Allen Jacobs, who owns a landscaping company and has worked with Toribio Uzeta for nearly 15. years, has set up a GoFundMe page to help the family. As of noon on Thursday, the GoFundMe page has raised $7,150 toward the $10,000 goal.
To donate, go to bit.ly/3F63Mkl.
