Justin lived in an old craftsman style house in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park. On the morning of July 4th, 2015, the house caught on fire and was nearly destroyed. Fortunately, their friend Sammy discovered the fire and risked his life to heroically alert all the other people in the house, who were still asleep. Justin, his girlfriend, and his dog (Roosevelt) woke up to find the ceiling of the front porch in flames.
The fire spread rapidly through the house. Justin helped his girlfriend and Roosevelt out of the house first, but by the time Justin was able to make his way out, the entire ceiling in the first floor was on fire and the kitchen ceiling began to collapse on him. Nearly the whole house was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived on scene. Tragically, after going upstairs to wake up someone who was sleeping, Sammy didn’t make it back out of the house and perished.
Because of the severity of the fire and tragic loss of life, the fire received extensive news coverage. News stories about the fire can be found here:
One dead, five injured in Echo Park Fire, LA Times.
One killed, five injured in Echo Park Fire, ABC 7
One dead, four injured in Echo Park house fire, Eastsider LA
Justin and Roosevelt mourn Sammy’s tragic passing, and will always be grateful to him for risking his own life and alerting them to the danger. Without his heroism, it’s likely that they would not have known that the house was on fire until it was far too late for them to escape.
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The fire spread rapidly through the house. Justin helped his girlfriend and Roosevelt out of the house first, but by the time Justin was able to make his way out, the entire ceiling in the first floor was on fire and the kitchen ceiling began to collapse on him. Nearly the whole house was engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived on scene. Tragically, after going upstairs to wake up someone who was sleeping, Sammy didn’t make it back out of the house and perished.
Because of the severity of the fire and tragic loss of life, the fire received extensive news coverage. News stories about the fire can be found here:
One dead, five injured in Echo Park Fire, LA Times.
One killed, five injured in Echo Park Fire, ABC 7
One dead, four injured in Echo Park house fire, Eastsider LA
Justin and Roosevelt mourn Sammy’s tragic passing, and will always be grateful to him for risking his own life and alerting them to the danger. Without his heroism, it’s likely that they would not have known that the house was on fire until it was far too late for them to escape.
To donate now, click here