'It's completely burned': Napa family of 6 homeless after Glass Fire destroyed their home

19 years of memories have now turned into ashes. Catalina Velazquez describes it as their biggest nightmare.
Friday, October 2, 2020
NAPA, Calif. (KGO) -- A Napa family lost everything in the Glass Fire. They evacuated hoping to return home after several days, but tonight they found out the insurance company is not covering as much as they thought.

"This is the house. It's completely burned. This is my son's room. This is the kitchen and the laundry room," described Antonio Velasquez.
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19 years of memories have now turned into ashes. Catalina Velazquez describes it as their biggest nightmare.

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"Es una pesadilla. Pensar que ahi mis dos hijos crecieron y empezaron a caminar. Es triste," said Catalina Velazquez.

"It's a nightmare. To think that my two kids grew up and learned how to walk in that house."

Last Sunday at 4 a.m. the memory of sirens and firefighters asking the Velazquez family and their neighbors to evacuate their Deer Park neighborhood are still fresh.



An orange glow over the mountain lightning up the dark night was their last memory.

Catalina evacuated with their kids. Antonio stayed back with their 18 year-old-son to protect their home.
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"I felt like I needed to oversee the house and oversee the neighborhood which is what I did before. I felt like probably the fire wasn't going to come this time but I was wrong," said Antonio Velazquez.

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Feeling helpless, they evacuated with their home burning in the distance.



"Based on what the fire department told us we left about an hour and half before the flames hit our house," said Antonio Velazquez.

Holding back tears Catalina and Antonio say they're staying strong for their four kids.

First they lost their jobs during the pandemic. Now they lost their home and aside from the family photos they wish they could go back for medical device for their son who has autism.
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"It's like a pump where you put a medicine for his asthma treatment. We left it behind," said Antonio Velazquez.

The insurance company confirmed Friday to the Velazquez family that their plan does not cover immediate housing. They're technically homeless.



For now they are staying with a family member. One of their kids opened a GoFundMe account to help the family.

What they have left now is a family photo to remind them of the trees, the house and the good memories they shared together as family.

"One step at a time and we just got to keep working hard to rebuild our dreams and rebuild what we accomplished," said Antonio Velazquez.


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