A Tacoma family had already been devastated by a fire, which destroyed much of their South Yakima Avenue home and most of their belongings. Then, looters broke in and took everything the family was hoping to save and salvage, which they’d spent previous days pulling from the ashes.
The fire, which investigators have ruled as electrical, started while the De los Reyes family was away, moving the kids’ grandmother into assisted living, while the father was working on a fishing vessel on the Bering Sea. Someone alerted Roxanne De Los Reyes her home was in flames, referring to photos posted on Facebook.
“I started bawling,” she said. “My daughter’s already screaming because the cats are in the house. She was crying, inconsolable.”