Fresno family seeks help after fire destroys home, catering business

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Last week, a fire destroyed a Fresno family's lifetime of memories. With it, Sandra Cisneros' business also went up in flames.

Tens of thousands of dollars' worth of equipment for her baking business are now gone.

Replacing everything will cost far more but she says their insurance will only cover $10,000 in damage.

"We will have to rebuild it on our own. And with me not having my source of income -- which is all of my material for baking -- it's even harder," said Cisneros.

The financial burden is even heavier than it would have been.

The fire happened in the family's exterior garage but almost all their belongings were inside it because they had just renovated their home.

"It was thousands of dollars. Literally all of our savings. And we were doing this for our babies, to give them a nice home," Cisneros said.

Loved ones of the family say the tragedy couldn't have happened to better people.

"Three beautiful kids, special needs daughter," said Jesus Gonzalez, Cisneros' brother-in-law. "I think that's what makes this... hurt even harder... the fact that it happened to them."

But the family is still grateful they're all still here.

At one point during the fire, Cisneros thought her husband was inside the garage.

She was about to go in after him, before she saw he was safe just outside of it.

"God's timing is right. Exactly one second later... that he had came inside, and I would have probably gone inside the garage," she said.

Still, some items lost were irreplaceable.

And the devastation doesn't end there.

The family has had to place locks all around their property -- they say people have broken in following the fire.

"It's sort of, kicking them when you're down, kind of thing. And... it takes a village to make sure we're all okay," said Gonzalez.

Now, the family is hoping that village can come together in their time of need.

"I don't really ask for help. But, at this point, I really need it. My family really needs it," said Cisneros.

If you'd like to help, Gonzalez set up a GoFundMe to help the Cisneros family rebuild.

They are also asking the community to consider donating clothes for their three young children.

They have two girls, ages 12 and 5, and a 1-year-old boy.

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