04.25.2009
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 | Super Moderator | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: North Carolina Age: 38
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 Man loses job & home in 2 hours
Quote: Fire Victim Worked As Emergency Counselor
POSTED: 5:20 pm PDT April 24, 2009
OREGON CITY, Ore. -- An Oregon City man just couldn't catch a break Friday. First he lost his job and then he went home to find his house on fire.
Victor Gonzalez said there was a silver lining to getting fired Friday.
"If I hadn’t gotten fired from work, I wouldn’t have come home, and I don’t know how far the fire would’ve gotten. So I guess that’s a good thing," he said.
The single father lost his job and his house in a matter of two hours Friday morning.
The fire broke out just after 9 a.m. at the house on Canyon Ridge Drive. Luckily, everyone got out safely thanks in part to Gonzalez's 12-year-old daughter.
He said he knew everything would be OK with his daughter there to help out.
Gonzalez said he worked as an emergency department social worker, helping people deal with traumatic situations like fires. His past work with emergency situations is helping him to deal with the situation.
“You can choose to laugh or you can choose to cry and I’m choosing to laugh because I don’t want to know what’s going to happen if I cry,” he said.
Now half of his roof is gone, his top floor is charred and firefighters soaked every inch of his house. Gonzalez isn’t sure what his insurance will cover or if the house can even be repaired.
For now, he’s just grateful everyone’s OK and proud to have his daughter Audriana in his corner.
“She’s been my partner in raising the family since we went through a divorce, and we couldn’t be where we are without her,” he said.
Gonzalez said it all started at about 7 a.m. when he started a fire in his wood stove to keep his two daughters and his niece cozy. Then he got called into work unexpectedly, only to be let go.
When he returned home, he saw smoke on the roof, that’s when he got everyone outside and told his oldest daughter Audriana to call 911.
Gonzalez tried to fight the fire with his garden hose, but it got too big, too fast. Even when fire crews arrived, it took them 30 minutes to get the fire under control. | Man loses job, house in 2 hours  |
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