NYSSA – As soon as Adriana Caldera Diaz walked into the door of her home on 509 North Sixth Street the night of Sunday, Dec. 3, she smelled smoke.
“I went up to my oldest son and asked what was going on. He said, ‘my room.’ I looked over and his room was on fire,” said Caldera Diaz.
Caldera Diaz just returned to her Nyssa home from her mother’s house and in an instant saw her son’s bed and a basket next to it were ablaze.
“We were looking for a fire extinguisher. We threw the basket outside,” said Caldera Diaz.
In the house was Caldera Diaz’s son, Mauricio, 18, her daughter, Analiza, 13 and her youngest son, Elijah, 2.
As the fire began to consume the house, Caldera Diaz rushed to get her children out.
“My two-year-old was asleep in his room but got him out. My 13-year-old was in her room and then she was running back and forth and in and out,” said Caldera Diaz.
Caldera Diaz pushed her children out of the house but returned to the burning structure several times to try to save what she could. She couldn’t save much. The fire burned too hot and too fast.
“It took me five times going in and out to make sure everyone was out,” she said.
The fire was reported at 8 p.m. and the Nyssa Fire Department arrived within nine minutes. Marvin Seuell, Nyssa Fire Department chief, said the house was burning when fire crews arrived.
“It had flames coming out of the back room,” he said.
The fire was so hot it melted the blades on a ceiling fan in the front room of the home, said Seuell.
Seuell said nine Nyssa Fire Department firefighters and four firefighters from the Parma Fire Department worked on the blaze for several hours. He said the cause of the fire “was electrical.”
“We were all done and out at 11 p.m.,” he said.
The house was, for the most part, destroyed said Seuell.
“I am devastated. We lost everything – our Christmas tree, everything,” said Caldera Diaz.
Caldera Diaz works for Oregon Child Development Coalition in Nyssa and said her family is looking for just about everything in the wake of the fire. Caldera Diaz said her family is especially in need of blankets, shampoo, clothes and shoes.
Right now, she said, the family’s insurance paid for five nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Ontario. After the five days are up, Caldera Diaz said she isn’t sure where the family will go.
“We’ll have to figure out something,” she said.
None of her children were injured, but Caldera Diaz, who suffers from asthma, said the smoke from the fire triggered an attack and her blood pressure is too high.
Caldera Diaz said a friend is going to set up an online fundraiser to get help. She said if anyone wants to donate clothes or other items they can reach out to the Oregon Child Development Coalition in either Nyssa or Ontario. The Nyssa office can be reached at 541-293-3014 and is at 308 East 2nd Street.
The Ontario office at 482 S.E. 3rd St. can be reached at 541-889-5325.
Seuell said the Nyssa Fire Department will donate an undetermined amount of money to Caldera Diaz from its burnout fund.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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