<div>Hello, my name is Mitesh and I'm fundraising for my family in Pune, India: a family of 5 that includes my mom (Usha - 61 years old), my brother (Mahesh - 41 years old), my sister-in-law (Bhakti - 41 years old), my niece (Aahana - 9 years old), and my nephew (Aarav - 5 years old).
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<div><strong>What happened?</strong>
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<div>A little past midnight on March 1st, 2024, an accidental fire broke out in my family's flat (apartment) possibly from the the lamp in the temple inside the house and it burnt the whole house down. Miraculously, all 5 of them escaped with little to no injuries.
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<div><strong>What does it look like?</strong>
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<div><strong>Video 1: </strong><a href="https://youtu.be/GeZEVjMPHFk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://youtu.be/GeZEVjMPHFk" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://youtu.be/GeZEVjMPHFk</a></a>
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<div><strong>Video 2: </strong><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/tlVb1OVXcHc?feature=share" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/tlVb1OVXcHc?feature=share" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://youtube.com/shorts/tlVb1OVXcHc?feature=share</a></a>
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<div><strong>Video 3</strong>: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4AQ3osJ_dQ/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.instagram.com/p/C4AQ3osJ_dQ/</a>
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/78689617_1709656874457650_r." width="100%" />
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/78689617_1709657192994472_r." width="100%" />
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/78689617_1709657239572271_r." width="100%" />
<div>How it used to look?
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<div><strong>How did it unfold?</strong>
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<div>Everyone in the house went to bed around 11 pm and were fast asleep in their bedrooms. At 1:10 am, Bhakti woke up to drink some water and noticed the living room on fire - it was big but not blazing yet. Immediately, she started yelling and woke up the rest of the family. Everyone awoke in terror and started doing what made sense to them to handle this fire.
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<li>My mom tried to open the main door (right next to the temple where the fire started) but only managed to get one of the locks before she got a little burned
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<li>My sister-in-law, who was taking care of Aarav, tried to open the bedroom windows and took the kids near it; quickly realizing that the smoke was unbearable.
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<li>My brother, who was taking care of Aahana, ran to open the balcony door in the living room (where the temple was located) to breathe properly.
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<div>In the meantime, they tried to use the drinking water, filled in pots in the kitchen, to douse the fire but the fire was way too big.
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<div>My brother tried to unlock the main door, while my niece was in the living room surrounded by fire, but failed. In the meantime, Bhakti took the kids and my mother to the (dry) balcony in the kitchen where they could breathe and be surrounded by concrete sufficiently protected from fire. My brother and Aahana were still in the living room!
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<div>At this point, Mahesh realized that there was no escape from the room grabbed Aahana, and rushed toward the dry balcony. Unfortunately, he tripped and fell on something that was hot and got burnt on his butt. However, adrenaline had taken over. He grabbed Aahana and reached the dry balcony. All started yelling for help and calling the fire brigade.
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<div>The fire had started blazing by this time and neighbors from all over had called the fire department. The fire department arrived and after climbing 7 floors knocked the main door down and started battling fire. My family had been reassured that help was on the way; they were a little relaxed.
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<div>After 30-45 mins of fire fighting, the fire was doused. My family was rescued - my brother with some burns, Aahana, and my mother with some minor injuries. The house, however, was burnt down and everything inside was destroyed.
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<div><strong>The lesson:</strong>
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<div>Everyone around has shown immense generosity and compassion in this tragic accident - from helping save my family, calming them down, providing temporary housing for them, and feeding them. A lot of our friends have reached out offering help in this difficult time.
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<div><strong>The ask:</strong>
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<div>The emotional and psychological trauma will take time to heal. This fundraiser is an attempt to at least try and get my family back on track financially to build the house and their life and get back to a routine.
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<div><strong>References:</strong>
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<div>This incident was all over the newspapers:
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<li><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/fire-flat-punes-gangadham-housing-society-family-rescued-9191608" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/fire-flat-punes-gangadham-housing-society-family-rescued-9191608/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/fire-flat-punes-gangadham-housing-society-family-rescued-9191608/</a></a>
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<li><a href="https://www.mypunepulse.com/pune-massive-fire-in-gangadham-phase-two-at-midnight-5-people-safely-rescued-from-balcony" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.mypunepulse.com/pune-massive-fire-in-gangadham-phase-two-at-midnight-5-people-safely-rescued-from-balcony/" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.mypunepulse.com/pune-massive-fire-in-gangadham-phase-two-at-midnight-5-people-safely-rescued-from-balcony/</a></a>
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Rebuilding life brick-by-brick

Rebuilding life brick-by-brick

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