Family can’t move back for six months or more
Gilroy – When she woke up the morning after a two-alarm fire nearly destroyed her home, 7-year-old Evangelina Salgado had one question for her father:
Where was her dog?
Salgado’s long-haired Chihuahua, Vanilla, was the only casualty of the unexplained blaze that originated in the garage and spread into 1635 Teal Court late Monday night. Evangelina, her parents, Ben Salgado and Breanna Vazquez, and brother Nicholas, 4, escaped unharmed; step-brother Luis Hernandez, 15, was at his grandmother’s house. But the family sustained major losses from the fire, which rendered their home unlivable, destroyed their car and laid waste to most of their possessions. Firefighters have yet to determine the blaze’s cause.
“Everything’s damaged,” said Ben Salgado, Evangelina’s father. The family can’t move back in for at least six months, he said – perhaps longer. Red signs posted on their now-blackened home read ‘unoccupiable.’
The family is currently staying in Morgan Hill with Vazquez’s mother. His car destroyed, Ben Salgado expects to lose his job with a customer service agency: he has no way to get to work. Vazquez will keep her job as a store manager for In-and-Out Burger. They plan to stay in Morgan Hill for at least a few months, after which they may look for an apartment.
Support has flowed from neighbors on Teal Court and nearby Vinca Court, who are collecting children’s clothing and money to help the family. Tina Crivello, of 6145 Teal Court, posted a note on every door on the street, asking for donations to a Wells-Fargo account established for the family. Neighbors Diana Torres and Maria Altamirano are planning a clothing drive, and a neighboring pastor is asking his parishioners, said Torres.
“The house looked even worse by daylight than it had in darkness the night before,” recalled Torres. Tuesday afternoon, upon returning from work, she and other neighbors gathered in front of the charred family home, awed by the damage. Torres didn’t know Salgado and Vazquez well before the fire, but as she gazed at the scorched metal of a child’s bike, she said she felt she had to do something.
Local businesses are also contributing: Stubby’s Sports Bar and Grill has already agreed to donate.
The sooty, boarded-up house may look dire, and Salgado is still trying to explain to his 4-year-old son why their family can’t go home. But with the help of friends, family and neighbors, he manages to look on the bright side.
“We’re thankful that my family and my children are alive and safe,” Ben Salgado said. “This could be worse, and I know that.”
