A grandmother lost her home, a dog, and all her belongings in a fire in Brentwood last week that burned four homes and multiple outbuildings, according to her grandson, who started an online fundraising effort for her.
The GoFundMe page started by Alex Morales says he’s raising funds for his grandmother Elicia Morales, who he said lost “everything.”
“This wasn’t just any house. It was the home her father built by hand, a place filled with years of memories, love, and quiet strength,” Morales wrote. “It was the home where she cared for her father during the last years of his life, and where she wanted to spend the last years of her life, where we gathered as a family, and though it wasn’t much it felt safe. Now it’s gone. Everything, her clothing, furniture, our childhood photos, and decades worth of our family’s lifelong belongings, was destroyed in minutes.”
Morales wrote that his grandmother got two of her dogs out of the house, but a third was still inside when the house was overtaken by flames.
“Along with the home, multiple outbuildings were destroyed, her storage sheds, neighbors ADUs, and kennels that were part of her daily life,” Morales wrote. “What was once a peaceful family property is now ash and rubble.”
Morales wrote that his grandmother lives on Social Security and has no savings or resources to rebuild.
“She’s a strong, humble woman who has always made do with very little,” he wrote. “She raised me and my brothers since we were babies. It breaks my heart. She’s facing something no one should have to face, losing her home, our pets, her belongings, and her independence in a single morning.”
Morales said donations will go toward emergency housing and basic necessities, like food and clothes, veterinarian care for her surviving pets, and “eventually the enormous task of rebuilding some piece of what was lost.”
Six people were displaced in the two-alarm fire. The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said the fire burned four homes and associated outbuildings. Two accessory dwelling units and three sheds were also heavily damaged. Another home was moderately damaged, as were two kennels.
The American Red Cross was called in to assist the six displaced people.
The fire was reported at 1:38 p.m. at 160 Sunrise Drive. The response included at least one helicopter. Firefighters controlled the blaze by about 2:45 p.m.