BORING, Oregon — The Sandy and Boring community came together to help a family who lost everything in a house fire earlier this month.
All Roy Diaz Meza and his father, Luis, can do right now is to be thankful for the memories they were able to create in their home for the last seven years in Boring.
“It’s where I grew up; it’s where the bulk of my family has spent their life,” said Diaz Meza.
Late last week, their home burst into flames, completely destroying the house and the two cars that were parked outside. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, but three of the family dogs and a cat died.
“My wife and I were waiting for supper, and she heard an explosion — a big old boom,” said neighbor Edward Mello.
Mello is just one neighbor inside of the Big Valley Woods RV Resort that have been helping the family of five out. Edward Mello said that he’s given the family money, and over the weekend, he invited them over to his house for breakfast.
In less than a week, a GoFundMe account that was set up has raised $14,000. As for what started the fire, it hasn’t been determined yet, but Roy and his father said they are thankful for their community that has been helping them.
“My dad said that the people who helped the most is our friends, family and everyone else here in the community that just wanted to help after seeing what happened,” said Diaz Meza.
The family does have insurance, but it’s only going to cover about $30,000 worth of damage; the family said the house is worth about $120,000.