GRESHAM, Ore. — A Gresham family is reeling after a fire destroyed their home and killed their four pets.
“It's kind of hard to realize just how bad the situation actually is,” said JT Hill.
Hill’s father, Jon Hill, his stepmother and younger sister live in the house on Southwest 1st Street near Northwest Birdsdale Avenue in Gresham.
The fire started in the garage late Sunday night and quickly spread. JT said his father was asleep on the couch at the time and didn't wake up until the smoke detector went off. He spent the night in the hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
“It's a serious miracle,” JT Hill said. “He was completely covered in soot.”
Jon Hill was the only person at home during the fire, but the family’s four pets were also inside. Two dogs and two cats died in the fire.
“I asked (firefighters) if the pets made it out and they said no,” JT Hill said. “I went over and hugged my dad, and he started breaking down crying. He said he did everything he could do to get back in and save them.”
When JT Hills’s parents returned to the home on Wednesday, they found looters had beaten them to it. They stole items including passports, computers, clothing, jewelry and shoes.
“Anything of value was taken,” JT Hill said. “It kind of hurts, knowing that somebody has that in their heart to do that to people and while we're already down.”
The family filed a police report and hopes those responsible are caught. Most of all, JT Hill said they’re grateful for their lives and the firefighters who responded.
“They were really there for my dad,” JT Hill said.
Besides their home, the family lost all of their cars in the fire. JT Hill’s uncle started a GoFundMe to help them get through the next several weeks.
“(My dad’s) motto is, ‘Everything happens for a reason,’” JT Hill said. “As sucky as it is to say that, it did happen for a reason.”