Melissa Dunn’s condo caught on fire

At 6:50am on Saturday, February 4th Mel’s condo complex went up into flames. The 6 unit building has been dealing with major safety concerns from a neighbor of theirs for years. Recently, it has gotten very frequent putting the Palatine Police Dept at their unit sometimes 3-5 times a day. Since Covid, evicting someone has become extremely hard… somewhat impossible. Although the effort from everyone including the association has most definitely been there. Yesterday, the man lit the building on fire for the third time in a year. This time, he refused to leave. Bill passed in his home Saturday morning. Thankfully, Mel and her gorgeous dog, Cami got out of the building safely through the back door in just enough time. They sat in their cars with their neighbors watching their lives fill with smoke and fire. 39 firemen from Palatine and neighboring towns arrived at the scene to diligently put out the fire. Mel’s brother, Jimmy has been living with her for the last year. What this means for them… they are unable to be in possession of ANY of their belongings. Her, Cami, and Jimmy have been displaced from their recently remodeled and beautiful home for the foreseeable future. There are huge projects that need to be completed before being able to return to their home safely. The restoration company and insurance anticipate months. Unfortunately, staying with friends and family isn’t an option as our Cami goolie doesn’t get along with other pups, so they will work fluidly with her to find a place to stay and figure out reimbursements. However, there are so many unexpected upfront costs that we want to be able to help Mel, Cami, and Jimmy with. I can’t imagine the feeling of having… nothing and hope we can give them some sort of peace to start over.