Anaheim family of 9 struggles to find housing after losing pets, belongings in fire
ANAHEIM, Calif. - An Anaheim family of nine lost everything in a house fire, and now they're struggling to find new housing.
The fire started one week ago on Sunday at 3 a.m. and spread throughout the house. Maria Rubio, her husband and their seven children were all inside the house at the time. Their 8-year-old son, Gabriel, first alerted the family to the fire.
"He came in [to their room] running. He was scared. He said, ‘The house is on fire,' and I was like ‘What,' and he said ‘The house is on fire,’ screaming," said Maria.
Fortunately, everyone made it out of the house safely, but their 12 birds passed in the fire, and all of their belongings were lost.
"We lost practically everything," Maria said. "Right now we're still trying to get a place. We've heard from people, but it's nothing like them saying we have a place for you. It's a process and it takes days," Maria said.
The seven kids have not been to school in a week because they're all separated, living with different family members that live in other cities outside of Anaheim. All of the kids go to schools in Anaheim.
"I have my little ones here with me in Moreno Valley with my mother-in-law and the rest of them are with my mom in Perris so right now our family is split in half, and it's hard," said Maria.
The cause of the fire is as of yet unknown.
City officials in Anaheim sent the following statement:
"Our help and our hearts go out to the Rubio family. We immediately connected the family with the Red Cross for emergency assistance. We are now reaching out to the family to best assess what their needs are now and in the weeks to come. Access California and Friends of Families, two nonprofits we work with, have stepped up to help with food and other services. We will work with these nonprofits to help the Rubios with the recovery process."
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However, Maria said the City has not helped them find housing, as promised.
"We haven't had that help that they promised us when the fire happened. We're not asking for help for years and years. We're just asking until we can get back on our feet. Right now our main priority is finding a place. We need a place to go. We need a place where my family can be together again, where they can go back to school. We really want the city to help us out," said Maria.
Maria said they are thankful for the help from community members donating clothes and money through their GoFundMe campaign, but they need more assistance because the money is needed for new clothes and necessities for all nine family members.
Maria says she and her husband have lived in Anaheim for their whole lives, "and to see nobody helping us [is sad]. It's something they promised that's not being accomplished."
Maria said their landlord is also not helping much. She said the landlord had insurance, but they did not have renter's insurance.
"We didn't have renters insurance unfortunately. You never think something like this is going to happen, but now it's a lesson learned that we've got to have renter's insurance," she said.
The family received a donation of new birds from the Fine Feathered Friends Foundation to help them cope with their loss.
"She told us 'I'm going to give back to you guys.' She (the owner) practically gave happiness to my kids and to myself because my daughter was just screaming that day, saying ‘Please help them’ (the birds), but we couldn't do anything. The fire started where the birds were," said Maria.
FOX 11 reached out to Anaheim City officials a second time, and they said they will be working with the family on a needs assessment, and will start that process immediately.