The family started a GoFundMe page to help find a temporary home and for medical expenses.
SAN ANTONIO — A fire ignites in a family’s garage on the west side, sending everyone running out.
While two of the family dogs escaped and another was rescued, four didn’t make it.
Wednesday, instead of planning for Thanksgiving, the family said goodbye to four beloved members.
“A lot of people have offered to have us over for Thanksgiving. I’m not too worried about it. For me, the dogs were everything. Everything aside from the dogs is just materials,” said Amy Garcia, who was home when the fire started.
Shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of Paso Del Sur St., Garcia heard her mom yelling to get outside. She spotted flames coming from the garage.
“It was me, my mom, my brother and our seven dogs,” said Garcia.
The family tried putting the fire out with a hose, but the flames grew too quickly.
About four hours passed before fire crews left the scene of heartbreak.
“They pulled [the dogs] out,” said Garcia about the firefighters. “They were pulling them out throughout the night.”
One by one, four of Amy’s dogs were carried out of the house. Their lives were taken by the fire.
“We lost Anna, Theseus, Brownie and Nini.”
The family lost everything.
Strangers helped pay for the dogs’ cremation, along with vet fees for Luna — one of the dogs who survived.
“Brownie, he’s Luna’s brother,” said Garcia. “Brownie was the love of my life.”
Now, those four-legged family members live on in memory.
“Nini was an old man…a really chunky little dachshund…He refused not to sit on people’s laps so you always had to be holding him like a baby.”
“Theseus was stoic and he was really weird. Sometimes he’d be stoic, but sometimes he’d be really annoying. He just had those two phases.”
“Anna was so random…She liked to pretend she was minding her own business, but if you pet her, she’d beg you for more pets,” said Garcia, with a smile.
As for the two other dogs who escaped, one may still be hiding out at the house, Garcia said, while the other is in safe keeping.
The Red Cross is helping the family with hotel stays. Garcia says they’ll move to a new hotel Thanksgiving Day.
While the family gets reimbursed for necessities, medical expenses aren’t covered.
Garcia started a GoFundMe page to pay for temporary housing and medical expenses for her mother.
“She’s been feeling unwell since the incident and we don’t know for sure yet what it is.”
To make a donation, click here.
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