Egor's House Burned Down
Donation protected
Our good friend Egor has just been through a nightmare. Throughout the past 15 years, our friend circle had grown and grown into a massive global family. Family take care of each other when things go wrong. I am reaching out to all of you on behalf of Egor, because I know he would never ever do it himself. Egor moved to Mexico a few years back and is building a family and a business in Valladolid. His entire life went up in flames last week and he and his family are left with nothing, although are thankfully safe and sound, except for their poor dog Hanna. Egor's primary concern is all of us, his friends and family around the world, and ensuring that we learn from his situation and prepare for our future safety. I know he wouldn't want anyone going above their means, however if you have a few extra dollars, please donate to this and help Egor rebuild his life. The following is his recount of the tragic event, and his message for us all. The proceeds from this GoFundMe campaign will be deposited into my Canadian Bank Account and I will ensure every dollar AND MORE go directly to Egor and his family in Mexico.
I have a message on behalf of my family to anyone that will hear us.
We have barely made it out alive of a house fire, our house has burned down, we have inhaled a lot of toxic black smoke and are now left with little but each other, which is the best case scenario given the circumstances.
But we are alive for one reason only, pure luck.
We were not prepared for an emergency such as this, or any real emergency for that matter.
This has been a wake up call for us and hopefully anyone reading this.
We have been living for about 2 years in a 2 story house with 3 bedrooms upstairs and another bedroom, kitchen living room and a dining doom downstairs. On March 5th we had Daniela's sister and her 3 little girls visiting us, they went to bed in our bedroom with Dani and our son Leo. We also had Dani's cousin and his girlfriend staying with us in our guest bedroom. I slept in the 3rd upstairs bedroom by myself.
I woke up to a strong smell of burning plastic, I jumped up to my feet knowing something seriously dangerous is unfolding. Naturally I went for the door to go see what's going on but when I opened the door a wall of black smoke hit me, it was so thick I immediately closed the door and started thinking of what to do, I put a rag to my face and tried again but the smoke was much worse and going downstairs or even down the hall to others was not an option. That's when the power went out and everything went pitch black. I went out the window, about 6 meters straight down to some spiky palm plants and a concrete floor of our back yard area. Somehow I didn't break anything and made it down barefoot with nothing but my shorts.
After opening the back door of the house and closing the valve on a gas tank I raced over the yard wall.
I ran around the house to the side of our bedroom. Window where the kids and their moms were. Somehow "adrenaline maybe" I climbed up the side of the building really fast and yelled for help to the neighbors on the way up. Then I yelled to Daniela that the fire "as I discovered while running around the house" was in the living room and that the only way out was through the window, outside which I stood on a 4 inch ledge. She opened the window and thick black smoke started billowing out all around her silhouette. I asked to pass me the kids and she did. I lowered the kids one by one to neighbors who were at the bottom ready to help. Her cousins girlfriend then her sister then Daniela herself climbed out the window and somehow without injury made it down to the ground. Her cousin was last, he was black as night covered in soot but alive and well.
The way they describe their experience to me sounds much more intense, scary and traumatic than mine. They woke up with no light and smoke quickly filling up the room, trying to wet some shirts to cover kids mouth they couldn't see anything and had no idea where the smoke was coming from. They found out it was in the livingroom and where an exit is only after hearing my shouted instructions. They have inhaled a lot of smoke and were almost losing consciousness, that would have been a disaster if one of them passed out.
The firefighters arrived far too late, our dog hanna was upstairs breathing her last and the fire was almost out with just the smoke pouring out much less aggressively than when we were trying to escape.
It's one of those things that people tend to take seriously and prepare for only after it has happened to them. This is our case, but it doesnt have to be yours.
Do you have an emergency plan? Do you know where all the exits are? Do you know where your shoes are? Do you have a flashlight within arms reach by your bed? When you stay at someone's house or a hotel do you check exits and make a escape plan before going to sleep?
Do you know CPR? If you wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by smoke and no light anywhere, will you know what to do or will you be confused? Are you fit enough to run, climb and carry someone if necessary?
Please consider my words. Search YouTube for what to do in an emergency and really take in all the info, replay emergency scenarios in your mind and make a game plan regularly and in every new place you sleep. Exercise. Get as fit and strong as you reasonably can, it might save your life or your kids life. Meditate, train your mind to not panic or react blindly but to make calculated decisions in stressful situations. Know where your pets are and have a plan for them too. It's important stuff that people tend to leave for later or think it's a good idea but dont act on it. Fucking do it or you might end up a statistic.
I have a message on behalf of my family to anyone that will hear us.
We have barely made it out alive of a house fire, our house has burned down, we have inhaled a lot of toxic black smoke and are now left with little but each other, which is the best case scenario given the circumstances.
But we are alive for one reason only, pure luck.
We were not prepared for an emergency such as this, or any real emergency for that matter.
This has been a wake up call for us and hopefully anyone reading this.
We have been living for about 2 years in a 2 story house with 3 bedrooms upstairs and another bedroom, kitchen living room and a dining doom downstairs. On March 5th we had Daniela's sister and her 3 little girls visiting us, they went to bed in our bedroom with Dani and our son Leo. We also had Dani's cousin and his girlfriend staying with us in our guest bedroom. I slept in the 3rd upstairs bedroom by myself.
I woke up to a strong smell of burning plastic, I jumped up to my feet knowing something seriously dangerous is unfolding. Naturally I went for the door to go see what's going on but when I opened the door a wall of black smoke hit me, it was so thick I immediately closed the door and started thinking of what to do, I put a rag to my face and tried again but the smoke was much worse and going downstairs or even down the hall to others was not an option. That's when the power went out and everything went pitch black. I went out the window, about 6 meters straight down to some spiky palm plants and a concrete floor of our back yard area. Somehow I didn't break anything and made it down barefoot with nothing but my shorts.
After opening the back door of the house and closing the valve on a gas tank I raced over the yard wall.
I ran around the house to the side of our bedroom. Window where the kids and their moms were. Somehow "adrenaline maybe" I climbed up the side of the building really fast and yelled for help to the neighbors on the way up. Then I yelled to Daniela that the fire "as I discovered while running around the house" was in the living room and that the only way out was through the window, outside which I stood on a 4 inch ledge. She opened the window and thick black smoke started billowing out all around her silhouette. I asked to pass me the kids and she did. I lowered the kids one by one to neighbors who were at the bottom ready to help. Her cousins girlfriend then her sister then Daniela herself climbed out the window and somehow without injury made it down to the ground. Her cousin was last, he was black as night covered in soot but alive and well.
The way they describe their experience to me sounds much more intense, scary and traumatic than mine. They woke up with no light and smoke quickly filling up the room, trying to wet some shirts to cover kids mouth they couldn't see anything and had no idea where the smoke was coming from. They found out it was in the livingroom and where an exit is only after hearing my shouted instructions. They have inhaled a lot of smoke and were almost losing consciousness, that would have been a disaster if one of them passed out.
The firefighters arrived far too late, our dog hanna was upstairs breathing her last and the fire was almost out with just the smoke pouring out much less aggressively than when we were trying to escape.
It's one of those things that people tend to take seriously and prepare for only after it has happened to them. This is our case, but it doesnt have to be yours.
Do you have an emergency plan? Do you know where all the exits are? Do you know where your shoes are? Do you have a flashlight within arms reach by your bed? When you stay at someone's house or a hotel do you check exits and make a escape plan before going to sleep?
Do you know CPR? If you wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by smoke and no light anywhere, will you know what to do or will you be confused? Are you fit enough to run, climb and carry someone if necessary?
Please consider my words. Search YouTube for what to do in an emergency and really take in all the info, replay emergency scenarios in your mind and make a game plan regularly and in every new place you sleep. Exercise. Get as fit and strong as you reasonably can, it might save your life or your kids life. Meditate, train your mind to not panic or react blindly but to make calculated decisions in stressful situations. Know where your pets are and have a plan for them too. It's important stuff that people tend to leave for later or think it's a good idea but dont act on it. Fucking do it or you might end up a statistic.
Organizer
Samir Bandali
Organizer
Vancouver, BC