There was almost always someone at the house where Paola Novi and Fernando Isopo lived with their three children. But Sunday, July 24, was different, according to close family friend Carolina Escrich.
The family had spent the day at the pool and stopped by the grocery store on the way home.
They made it back to their rented home at 1168 S. Maple Ave. shortly after 7 p.m. to discover the building surrounded by firefighters and thick smoke billowing from the roof.
Half an hour earlier the family would have likely been in the living room, where a bolt of lightning exploded through the ceiling and set the home ablaze.
Escrich was on the phone with Paola Novi as she and her family pulled up to the disaster scene. Novi at first told Escrich that a neighbor’s house had caught fire. When Novi realized what was happening, however, the phone went silent briefly.
“It’s not the neighbor’s house! It’s us! It’s us!” she exclaimed.
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze, but Novi and Isopo had no renter’s insurance and lost almost everything, Escrich said.
Escrich said the living room and dining room on the first floor were destroyed by the fire. Water and smoke damage ruined bedrooms in the basement.
“In the last couple of days they were trying to go to the house to get the stuff that’s not in that bad of a condition,” Escrich said, noting that the family has until July 31 to retrieve the remainder of their possessions.
Novi, Isopo and the kids are now staying with a family member in Riverside, and trying to get back on their feet.
Escrich launched an online fundraiser on gofundme.com with the goal of collecting $5,000, but she said they are in need of almost everything.
“They have to start all over again,” Escrich said. “Five thousand dollars would give them the security to buy whatever they lost and have a deposit for the new apartment and for the kids, who are starting school in two or three weeks.
“They wanted to stay in the area because all the kids go to Oak Park schools.”
Escrich said that even if it’s just a donation of $5, “everything counts.”
Donations of goods can be directed to Escrich by email at cescrichhochman@gmail.com. The GoFundMe website is at www.gofundme.com/2g9wx59u.
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com