Dio's Story: Fire Took Everything, Give Hope

Hi, my name is Tami, and I am going to tell you a little story about a man named Dio. I met him about 8 or 9 years ago in the city of Fircrest when he came by and asked if I needed any help with my yard. I had him do a couple of jobs around my yard just to see what kind of work he did and decided that I wanted to hire him full-time to mow and edge and keep all the bushes tidied up and the weeds pulled.

He did a great job and he usually would bring a lady with him. I finally met her and found out that she was his wife. I told her I've never seen anybody work so hard! Dio and his wife are very hard workers!

Last week, or in the middle of April 2025, his entire home and garage all burnt to the ground. All of his equipment, his trucks, his personal items, all their clothing, furniture, and all their items being stored in the house for their kids that have already moved out of the house were all there and are literally burnt to the ground.

I saw him working on the neighbor's yard the other day and I said, "Hey Dio, how's it going?" And he said, "Not so good." I asked him what happened. Before he could even speak, he was sobbing. As he was getting the words out of his mouth telling me that his home and everything had burnt to the ground, including his dog, I was just weeping inside. He and his wife work so hard for everything and have very little that they don't just pay cash for.

They are a couple that believes in working for what you get. Right after the fire, his wife got ill and had to go into the hospital for a few days, so as he stood there in the street sobbing and telling me about his dog and his wife being in the hospital, I just felt so bad for him. He even opened up his wallet and said, "I literally have nothing left in my whole life but $7 to my name." He said he had to buy some shovels and rakes and a new lawn mower so that he could at least do some work to earn some more money. Thankfully, one of his trailers that he holds some of his things in had been loaned to another person and it did not burn. He is also borrowing a truck from someone else.

The thing is, he was renting a home and he did not have renter's insurance, and the owner said that he will not give him any money for any of the things that were in his home. Then he called his car insurance, and the car insurance people told him that they don't replace his vehicles if they get burned in a fire; they only replace the car if it is wrecked on the streets.

I don't know enough about the laws of people who rent, but I would hope that somehow they get compensated for some of their things at least. In the meantime, they really need us, the community, to step in and help them out.

One of my neighbors gave them a lead on a possible home to rent in Tacoma. Several friends have been calling him to come over and do some yard work for them and some projects around the house, and some people just asked if they could give money. I have never created a GoFundMe before, but I hope that I'm doing a good job at it so that I can encourage some people to help this really kind, hardworking couple out. They are in their late 40s, early 50s, and starting over is so huge and monumental right now that it's overwhelming.

Thank you for anything that you can do as far as a monetary donation goes. God bless.