Vue Family House Fire
Donation protected
On December 21st, the Thursday before Christmas, I received a phone call from my dad while I was Christmas shopping with my sisters. His first words were, "bad news baby, the house blew up." I was so confused because my dad is a very calm and humble person and I thought maybe he was trying to play a joke on me. He goes on and tells me the house caught on fire and as we were speaking the firefighters were still trying to put the flame out. With this fire, we lost all three of our family dogs, Brownie (13), Poonie(7), and Dawson(2). Poonie and Dawson were stiff and dead upon the firefighters arrival and Brownie was in critical condition. My family decided to put him down because he would have brain damage, blindness, and pay a starting treatment cost of $1500. He did live a long wonderful life and we are sad we had to make this decision but we believe the recovery for him at his age would be hard. No one was home during the time it happened and our neighbors were the ones who called 911. The firefighters said the fire was an electrical fire and started by the computer and slowly spread. It melted the whole dining area (the monitors and computer towers, office chair, dining table and chairs). The fire was so big it burnt a huge hole in our roof. It spread to the kitchen and melted the fridge, cooking ware and kitchen ware. It also traveled to the living room area and melted the water dispenser, laptop, and tv. The firefighters were able to stop the fire before it spread to the bedrooms. However, due to the amount of smoke, a lot of our personal belongings (family photos, videos of our birthday parties when we were kids, Hmong clothing and Hmong accessories, awards and certificates) had to be thrown away since they could not be reused (couch, dryer, washer, bed mattresses). We are trying to save whatever we can because my parents have to start from scratch (buy new housing necessities, bedding, clothing, toiletries). Because this happened before the holidays, my family and I decided to wait until after the holidays to reach out for help. We did not want to spoil everyone's holiday with our devastating news and wanted to move on with beginning the new year so we can start fresh, to create a new pathway in our life. I would like to add that despite this tragic event, my family and I did our best to enjoy the holidays. We continued on with our annual family Christmas party and gave whatever Christmas presents were left undamaged. Please donate what you can for we understand the new year has just begun and everyone has priorities to attend to. We are not asking for only funds. If you can please donate necessities such as sleepwear, pillows, blankets, kitchen ware, cooking ware, bed sheets, comforters, and other housing necessities, it would be much appreciated. The donations given will not only help give my family some peace with the loss of our puppies but it will also help give my parents closure of the unfortunate events and move on to create new memories in their new home. It would help them get back on their feet and not add more stress onto them. The repair on the house is approximated to be a 4-6 months wait causing my parents and brother to find their own temporary housing. My siblings and I are currently looking for a new home for my family and hope you all can do what you can to support us in this time of need. My parents had just recently renewed their yearly contract for this home in November 2017, and are hoping they can get their deposit back to use it for a new home. If you would like to donate any items please contact us through here and we can make further arrangements. Prayers and well wishes are welcome too. Thanks for all the love. It is truly appreciated <3.
Organizer and beneficiary
Abigail Vue
Organizer
Merced, CA
Dan Vue
Beneficiary