Starting over can be difficult after losing your belongings to a fire, as Ontario residents Esteban and Carmelita Gonzalez are finding after losing their home to an early morning fire on Sunday, Feb. 16.
Esteban Gonzalez shared with the newspaper on Tuesday what went through his mind during the blaze.
“I wake up and I smell, like, something is burning,” Esteban said about the moment he realized what was happening. “I went all the way to the living room and then to the kitchen and I saw the fire in the window. I call my wife and [said] ‘The house is on fire!’”
At first, the couple felt they could put the fire out themselves.
“I [turned] on the water and grabbed some water and tried to stop the fire,” Esteban explained.
But soon they realized the blaze had started outside the house.
It was at that point they rushed to grab what little they could and call 911.