LAKE CITY, Fla. - A Lake City mother-of-two is struggling to rebuild after a fire destroyed her family's home.
While the outside of Zara Magana’s home appeared relatively intact, the inside was charred in the Oct. 27 blaze. Magana was working late at her parents’ shop when she got the call.
“I was fixing to close, it was about 11:30-ish, and I got a call from the Fire Rescue that my house was on fire,” Magana told First Coast News.
Thankfully her two daughters, 7-year-old Liliana and 3-year-old Melissa, spent the night with their grandmother at the fair. One of the family dogs didn’t make it out.
While Magana was able to salvage some of her daughters’ clothes, the smoke embedded in the fabric triggered Liliana’s asthma. Liliana, who clutched her inhaler between puffs Tuesday, has had to stay home from school due to her condition.
Magana is now left to care for her daughters and begin the cleanup alone.
“I don’t have my husband anymore because my husband was deported,” she said.
Magana said her husband, who is the father of her daughters, was sent back to El Salvador in February. She has been working to bring him back since.
“Everything that my husband worked for, everything that I’ve worked for, all our photos, all our belongings [are destroyed],” Magana said.
Magana is unsure of what’s next, but for now, she’s taking it one day at a time.
“I have to stay strong,” she said. “Because now basically I’m a single mom until he comes back. And I have to be strong for [the girls].”
The family did not have homeowner’s insurance and is struggling with costs to rebuild. If you would like to help you can donate here.