The same day the Sandy Fire ignited, a Simi Valley family — trying to move on from an April apartment fire that killed their puppy — was trying to celebrate a college graduation.
Jasmin De La Cruz, 22, was preparing for commencement at CSU Northridge when the Sandy Fire broke out the morning of May 18 on the opposite side of Simi. While their new home was outside of the evacuation zones, the wildfire triggered trauma for her family from weeks ago, De La Cruz said.
On the morning of April 18, De La Cruz received a call from her 14-year-old sister, Isabela, that their unit in the River Ranch apartments on Patricia Avenue had caught fire. De La Cruz was already at work when their 48-year-old father, Eusedio, and one of their dogs, Lily, were able to escape.
De La Cruz left work early to check on her family and home as soon as she learned about the apartment fire.
She arrived at the complex to find her sister hysterical and her father comforting her. Firefighters with the Ventura County Fire Department extinguished the flames in their apartment, and later, after being advised that the building was not habitable, the family entered to see what was left of their home.
“It was completely gone, like it was never even there,” De La Cruz said. She walked through the charred apartment unit, which she described as being “apocalyptic.”
She found her graduation sash and rope, distinguishing her as an honors student, in her closet with other pieces of clothing. They weren’t burnt. However, the white sash had browned from the smoke and fire. Despite multiple washes, the stains and the smell did not come out. A friend was kind enough to buy her a replacement sash.
Her laptop and school bag were also destroyed or damaged from the apartment fire, but De La Cruz was able to complete her final semester with honors.
‘We couldn’t save Roxy’
Isabela said she woke up around 9:30 a.m. the morning of the apartment fire. She heard popping sounds in her older sister’s room. She had little time to react before she heard shouting from her father Eusedio.
The father said he was alerted to the fire when he heard his eldest daughter’s dog, Roxy, crying from the crate in her room with flames jutting up the wall next to her. The father attempted to rescue the dog, but the flames spread quickly.
“In seconds, the fire was in the hallway, then the rooms, then it spread up to the ceiling,” the father said in Spanish.
He had little time to react and get Isabela out and check on Jasmin, who he quickly learned had already left for work.
The father ran back inside to once again try to save Roxy, but was unable to make his way through because of the fire and intense smoke.
He crawled through his apartment building to find the exit once again and find Isabela and neighbors looking at the scene.
The family’s mother, Maria De La Cruz, 53, and eldest daughter, Alejandra Robles, 31, happened to be an hour away at a church retreat that day.
Their puppy Roxy was a 9-month-old American Bully mix and was undergoing crate training. Alejandra had put Isabela in charge of caring for the puppy while away at the retreat.
“We couldn’t save Roxy,” the father said. “It hurts to watch Isabela cry and blame herself for not being able to save Roxy.”
The family moved across town into a new Simi apartment on May 9, three weeks after the fire, with help from their community and friends. While the family tries to replace what they’ve lost, starting with essential items such as furniture, cookware and clothing, they still lament what cannot be replaced.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help them replace some necessities lost in the fire. And they are seeking answers as to how the fire started. The Ventura County Fire Department had not completed its fire investigation report as of May 28.
Ernesto Centeno Araujo covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at ecentenoaraujo@vcstar.com, 805-437-0224 or @ecentenoaraujo on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Simi Valley family rebuilds life after devastating apartment fire
Reporting by Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
