Family recovery from Paradise Fire
Donation protected
Yesterday a fire leveled the town of Paradise, California. People were forced to evacuate their homes with less than minutes to gather valuables, including pets, before they had to abandon the city they called home, a city now completely transformed to rubble and ash.
Many people woke to a normal day and left their homes yesterday to conduct business as usual. My cousin, Sarah, was one of those people. She left home yesterday morning with her two daughters as if it was a normal school day. She was not allowed to return home to save anything, not even her pets: a dog, Maggie, and two cats, Constantine and Murphey - who they had just adopted from the shelter on Tuesday. Sarah's husband, Dave, is a firefighter engineer and was able to gain access to take the attached photos after the fire had come through.
Today she received the confirmation that her home was completely destroyed, reduced to ash. Sarah's parent's, Owen and Phyllis, only had minutes to gather things to save before they also had to abandon their home with only the cloths on their backs, their home was also destroyed. Sarah's brother, Steve and his wife, Mindy and their three children who lived down the street from Uncle Owen are now homeless. Our Uncle Marv, Owen's brother, also had a home in Paradise; it too was destroyed, along with nearly every other house in Paradise.
Paradise is a town of just under 30,000 people, and this fire tore through it and the neighborhoods it held in a day, bringing everything that once stood proud to the ground as ash. My family and their families are now homeless, along with the other thousands of residents and business owners.
Rebuilding after a fire is daunting. Rebuilding a town is unfathomable. Nonetheless, the Suihkonen and Johnston family are strong and resilient, but they need help in the uncertain days, weeks, and months ahead of them. Please, anything you are able to contribute will go towards tremendously good people and their journey of reconstruction.
The photo below is the lot where my Uncle's family home stood less than 35 hours ago. His children grew up in that house. It is now just an empty lot. The photo on the front is what used to be Sarah's home. As you can see, not even the framed studs survived on either home.
Many people woke to a normal day and left their homes yesterday to conduct business as usual. My cousin, Sarah, was one of those people. She left home yesterday morning with her two daughters as if it was a normal school day. She was not allowed to return home to save anything, not even her pets: a dog, Maggie, and two cats, Constantine and Murphey - who they had just adopted from the shelter on Tuesday. Sarah's husband, Dave, is a firefighter engineer and was able to gain access to take the attached photos after the fire had come through.
Today she received the confirmation that her home was completely destroyed, reduced to ash. Sarah's parent's, Owen and Phyllis, only had minutes to gather things to save before they also had to abandon their home with only the cloths on their backs, their home was also destroyed. Sarah's brother, Steve and his wife, Mindy and their three children who lived down the street from Uncle Owen are now homeless. Our Uncle Marv, Owen's brother, also had a home in Paradise; it too was destroyed, along with nearly every other house in Paradise.
Paradise is a town of just under 30,000 people, and this fire tore through it and the neighborhoods it held in a day, bringing everything that once stood proud to the ground as ash. My family and their families are now homeless, along with the other thousands of residents and business owners.
Rebuilding after a fire is daunting. Rebuilding a town is unfathomable. Nonetheless, the Suihkonen and Johnston family are strong and resilient, but they need help in the uncertain days, weeks, and months ahead of them. Please, anything you are able to contribute will go towards tremendously good people and their journey of reconstruction.
The photo below is the lot where my Uncle's family home stood less than 35 hours ago. His children grew up in that house. It is now just an empty lot. The photo on the front is what used to be Sarah's home. As you can see, not even the framed studs survived on either home.
Organizer and beneficiary
Amelia Nordlund
Organizer
Lake Oswego, OR
Sarah Johnston
Beneficiary