HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Three-year-old Elijah Lopez held his grandfather’s hand as he returned to where the place 3 of his family members misplaced their lives and he and his mom just about misplaced theirs.
There — at the charred steps of a badly burned cellular house off Pritcher Road in Lithia — a memorial of vegetation, teddy bears, and candles grows.
As Elijah and his grandfather paid their respects there, Suzette Peña was once nearly puzzled.
“I try not to cry, you know, show my family I’m strong for them,” she mentioned. “Twenty-four hours still hasn’t clicked in.”
Monday afternoon, round 1 p.m., an intense fire briefly ate up the cellular house as 5 family members, together with Elijah, rested within.
According to family members, Elijah woke his mom — Veronica Bermudez — to alert her of the blaze.
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Thanks to the warning call, Bermudez were given herself and the three-year-old out safely and idea her husband and two different children have been proper at the back of her.
However, they didn’t get out.
Her husband and the kids’s father — 22-year-old Angel Lopez, Sr. — and their different two youngsters — 5-year-old Angel Lopez, Jr. and 14-month-old Harmony Lopez — died within the blaze.
In a Monday news convention, Sheriff Chad Chronister mentioned first responders did all they may, however the fire was once too intense.
“The blaze took over the residence — the mobile home — so fast that no one could have done anything more than was done here today,” he said.
Tuesday night, dozens gathered for a vigil outside what’s left of the home, which is now wrapped in yellow caution tape.
Friends, strangers, and family members lit candles and paid their respects at what was left of the home. They also offered some comfort to little Elijah.
Peña said Elijah and his mom will need a lot more comfort and more help since the fire not only devastated their family but it also destroyed virtually everything they own.
“They need help like if they were a newborn and came into this world with nothing,” Peña mentioned. “We’ve gone through other family deaths, but something like this — never.”
You can find the family’s online fundraiser at this link.
Additionally, the family is making plans a automobile wash to assist carry in additional donations to assist Bermudez and Elijah.
The automobile wash shall be hung on April 23 from 8 a.m. to six p.m. on the O’Reilly Auto Parts at 1704 James L Redman Pkwy in Plant City.