A Los Al family who lost their homes to fire several weeks before the tragic Los Angeles wildfires this past week, certainly understands the meaning of loss.
Pastor Timothy Butler, Sr., his wife Katrina, and their two children, 12 and 9 years old, are living with a cousin this week as they try to rebuild their lives.
Tim Butler serves as a pastor at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Bloomington.
According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the fire at their rental home in Los Alamitos broke out on Nov. 30.
Crews arrived within five minutes on Nov. 30 at about 1:20 p.m. only to find smoke pressurized smoke coming from multiple attic vents.
“Firefighters quickly advanced hose lines into the single-story home and initiated an attack on the fire and a search for residents,” OCFA said. “Additional units arrived and were able to complete a search for residents and confirm there were no injuries.”
According to OCFA, firefighters extinguished the blaze within 15 minutes and the cause of the fire is still under investigation, OCFA said. None of the family, which includes a 12-year-old girl, a 10-year-old boy, their parents were injured.
The Butler family organized a GoFundMe campaign to help cover temporary housing, clothing, food and other essential needs while the family navigates starting over.
The Butler family organized a GoFundMe campaign to help cover temporary housing, clothing, food and other essential needs while the family navigates starting over.
Although the fire on Nov. 30 was relatively quickly extinguished, Pastor Tim Butler, whose family was living in the home, said burning plastics virtually ruined the home and all of their possessions.
“The blaze melted the microwave above it and started a fire in the kitchen and the front room, but the damage was caused by the tremendous amount of plastic smoke that just enveloped the house, and then they discovered asbestos in the house, which made everything gone,” said Butler in an interview with ENE this week.
“So we just lost everything. and we don’t really have anything, he said.
They are now living with family but are desperately trying to raise enough money to get a fresh start. Butler said there was a small settlement from their rental policy, but it barely covered their first month of hotel bills.
Butler said the Los Al and Seal Beach communities have stepped in to help.
“This community has just been absolutely fabulous,” said Butler.
He said his son, 9, who attends McGaugh Elementary, and his daughter, 12, who attends Rossmoor Elementary, were both immediately presented with enough school uniforms to replace what was lost.
In addition, he said their classmates got together and replaced the kids’ toys and games that had been lost in the fire.
The schools even gave them loaner computers to keep up, he added.
“I mean, our children’s schools, they both stepped up immediately and tried to make the kids life as normal as possible,” said Butler.
Currently, said Butler, “we’re just, we’re doing the GoFundMe because, I mean, there’s just, it’s hard to find a place to stay. We’re going to be displaced for God only knows how long and every day, the expenses have just been piling up.”
“You forget how hard it is to replace everything in your life until you have to start replacing everything,” he said.
“Unless you’ve lived it like we have, you don’t really understand what these people are going through,” said Butler.
“We just went through it. And it’s, it’s, it’s like running into a wall that is 500 feet thick, and you’re halfway in the middle of it, if that kind of explains what it feels like, because you’re just, you’re absolutely nowhere, and you can’t move because it’s just gone, and everything you thought you had is history.”
“We look at all the people who have lost their homes (in the wildfire),” said Butler.
“My wife and I were just sitting and talking about that, and she just looked at me and she goes, homes, and it’s just like we can literally say, I know what you feel like, and it’s not a feeling I wish upon anybody,” ,” said Butler.
They are still looking for a new home computer, he said, even though they still don’t have permanent shelter.
“We’re living on my cousin’s sofa,” he said.
“It’s just traumatic,” he said. “Definitely been challenging,” said Butler.
Butler said people from the community have shown up and people near where they are living keep bringing them food.
“It just reminds you how incredible Los Alamitos actually is, and Seal Beach too.”
Anyone wanting to help can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/faith-restores-what-fire-took-away?qid=88e39de9e7c03bb58c11b838236189ed