The Radillo Home Fire Fund

As a mother, it is the most horrifying feeling not knowing where you're going to lay your children's heads down to sleep at night. This has been our life over the past few days...

My name is Elizabeth Radillo and on Thursday morning, March 24th, 2016, at about 1:30am, our world went up in flames. Literally.

My brother's car, which was parked just outside our family home, somehow caught fire. We don't know how or why, but it did. Awake at the time, my husband and father of my three young daughters, Marino Radillo, and his brother, Miguel Radillo, heard the truck's horn going off and immediately knew something was wrong. They ran outside and saw the car completely engulfed in flames and immediately called 911. We tried desperately to put out the fire while we waited for help to arrive, but it was honestly just completely impossible. There was absolutely nothing we could do and it was the most frightening feeling in the world realizing what was actually happening to our home right before my eyes. The fire was so fierce and spread so quickly that we had to act quickly in waking up the girls and our parents, Pilar and Marino Radillo, to get them out of the house safely before it was too late.

Our family home was burned and destroyed in a matter of minutes. Dozens of flamable cans exploded one after the other and shook the entire neighborhood awake. It honestly felt and sounded like a war zone. I will never forget the look of terror on my girls' faces. The firefighters arrived in about 5 minutes, which felt like an eternity, and after a long battle, finally put out the disastrous fire. Barefooted and cold in our PJ's, our front door neighbor generously opened her doors for my family and allowed us to lay our girls on her couch.

And that's kind of how it's been for us over the past few days. My husband and I and our three baby girls sleeping on couches and hotel rooms. Our parents, 60 and 70 years old, and our brother going through the same, bouncing between relatives homes. All of us with no place to call home and no way to hide from this unescapable and tragic truth.

We are so blessed to still be here, alive and breathing. Our angels were truly with us and divine guidance allowed for my family and I to get out safely. For that we are forever thankful. But the road ahead will be tough, lengthy and costly.

The fire destroyed so much, there is no electricity or running water and the smoke damage is extensive. Our home is gone and completely uninhabitable. The truth is, the house had no homeowner's insurance and although we are hopeful that we will be able to somehow recover our losses in some way, we really don't know if we ultimately will. That's the scary part. And right now, we really just need to find a place to live in normalcy, but we were honestly in no way prepared for anything like this. 

We are at a complete loss and it breaks my heart looking at my girls trying to pretend everything is okay while we hold it together for them. We have no choice but to be strong for them, but they are definitely feeling this psychologically and we need to find a way to make it right in the mean time, if not for anyone, but for them.

With our hands tied and with our heads down, we are turning to all of our family, friends and our community and asking for help throughout this process. There is no amount too small; every little bit counts and will truly make a big difference for us in our time of need, especially for my little girls and for Pilar and Marino, who are truly suffering through this loss right now. The amount of prayers and support we have already received from our nearest and dearest has been so overwhelmingly humbling and we know that with our Faith and your continued support, we WILL get through this. We WILL survive this together and stronger than ever.

From our family to yours, WE THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. God Bless you all.

Namaste.

THE RADILLOS