KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Veronica Ortiz and Oscar Urbina will spend this holiday season rebuilding their lives after a fire destroyed their home and belongings just days before Christmas.
"My whole life was in that house," Ortiz said.
Ortiz and her husband planned to host their family's Christmas celebration.
Christmas decorations and lights still line the patio of their east Kansas City, Missouri, home.
The home caught fire about 3 a.m. on Dec. 16.
Ortiz and her sister spent one recent day sifting through what was left of the couple's refrigerator.
"My husband already bought all the meat," Ortiz said as she pointed to the freezer. "That was the meat for Christmas."
Ortiz bought the home by herself 20 years ago.
"I was a single mother with two kids and I worked very hard to have my own house," she said. "Then I married my husband and he fixed everything. When I told him I wanted to make it bigger, he told me, 'One day, one day we're gonna make it bigger.'"
They made that dream come true as they wrapped up renovations last Sunday while watching the Chiefs game with family in their new dining room.
"It's sad because we work very hard for my house," Ortiz said. "I feel like all my dreams are gone. There were a lot of things like my pictures, my kid's pictures."
The couple recently allowed a friend who needed help to use their spare bedroom.
Ortiz believes the cause of the fire was a space heater used by the guest.
"I don't want to have hate in my heart. Nobody is guilty. I told my husband, 'Okay, we have to start all over,"' Ortiz said. "And I don't know how, but we start all over."
The family has aGoFundMe page set up to help raise money to rebuild their home.
The U.S. Fire Administration offers tips to safely use a space heater that includes keeping anything that can burn at least three feet away from the space heater.
Be sure to turn the space heater off any time you leave the room or go to bed.
Always put them on a solid, flat surface to avoid tipping over.
Check for cracked or damaged cords and plugs, and always plug space heaters directly into the wall, not an extension cord or power strip.
—
