SAN ANTONIO – A Southwest Side grandmother and her family of four are still out in the cold following a fire Thursday.
Mary Flores was one of several families who lived at The Preserve at The Port Apartments and were displaced by a deadly fire.
Her 12-year-old granddaughter, Nikky Bigil, was home alone at the time, ran out barefoot into the cold rain. They received help from The Red Cross but those vouchers have since run out.
1 person killed in South Side apartment fire
Flores doesn’t know where to turn to next.
“I can't even say right now, you just need everything, but you don’t know what to do because there's no home to put it in, there's no place to save it in, I don’t know what to ask,” she said.
She’s on a fixed income and said she will need more time to find a place that she can afford. She said people and organizations have offered her food, clothing and other items, but the problem is, she doesn’t have anywhere to put them.
Since the fire, her belongings have remained boarded up in her apartment and she doesn’t know what is salvageable.
Bigil said it’s so upsetting she doesn’t have a uniform to wear to school and she’s is so anxious that she can’t go to school.
“I missed school because I have so much stress,” she said.
Flores just hopes she can find some stability for her family before the holidays.
To make matters worse the family lost their family pet dog. Max is a terrier and Chihuahua mix ran out during the fire and has not returned. It does have a microchip and the family hopes someone returns it or calls Animal Care Services to report it.
With the help of KSAT, the family has been in contact with The Burned Out Survivors’ Fund, the nonprofit group offers additional assistance to victims of fires.
Fire investigators still don’t have a cause for the fire.