It was a relatively normal Tuesday.
On the last day of August, Nancy Lopez was driving her cousin to take their driver’s license exam and her two oldest children, 21-year-old Jennifer Garcia and 18-year-old Julian Colunga, were coming back home from the gym in order to wait for their youngest brother, 10-year-old Joseph Colunga, to return from school.
Nancy was only gone for about 20 minutes when she received a frantic call from Jennifer saying that their home in Mission was on fire.
“I told them to just get out,” Nancy said in Spanish. “As long as you aren’t inside, just stay away.”
According to Nancy’s daughter, when she and her brother arrived home Jennifer stepped into the bathroom for less than 10 minutes and upon exiting, she noticed that one side of their house was engulfed in flames.
She ran outside to call for Julian to warn him about the fire which their uncle, Nancy’s brother, Jose Lopez, who lives only two houses down, overheard and responded to quickly.
“I heard my sister scream so I came [around] and saw the window on fire,” Julian recalled. “I was trying to get the hose when my tio came running.”
He had arrived with two fire extinguishers and attempted to put out the fire, but it was too late.
The incident was caused by an electrical fire which started with the home’s air condition unit and, as a firefighter explained to the family, once the air ducts are on fire there’s little that can be done especially in a wooden house.
Nancy arrived to find her home a total loss, with only a small wall standing. That was part of the bathroom.
This isn’t the only tragedy the family has faced in recent years.
Nancy lost her husband, Librado Colunga Jr., in 2015 on Christmas Day due to complications with diabetes, which she and her son Julian also suffer from. He was only 35 years old.
Medicare takes care of Julian’s medicinal needs to treat his diabetes while Nancy gets treated in Mexico.
Currently, the family has been able to rebuild the skeleton and foundation for a new home with donations from different sources, such as family friends and local churches.
The family also raises funds by running raffles and selling food plates.
They use an ice box to keep their food fresh and Nancy uses a hot plate or a donated gas burner stove to cook for her kids.
She and Joseph share a mattress in what would be her bedroom, though there are no walls to really separate rooms.
And since they have no running water, they go over to Nancy’s brother’s home to use the bathroom and shower.
She has sheetrock ready to be installed but needs electrical wiring, insulation and other pieces necessary to complete the house.
Jennifer moved to Colorado and is working as a solar panel installer in order to help her mom rebuild.
Julian, who used to be a mariachi musician, quit his elective classes at school to focus on studying in order to graduate as soon as possible so he’d be able to start working, but his mom wouldn’t allow it. Instead, the 18-year-old is taking AP courses to gain college credit before graduation.
Meanwhile, Joseph seems to be happy and is doing well despite the traumatic event of nearly losing everything the family owned. Nancy says he’s always lived in his own little world.
“Of the three, I think [Julian] took it the hardest,” Nancy said. “He would say, ‘Mom, this is your life’s work,’ and I would tell him, ‘No, mijo, my life’s work are you kids, a house can be recovered and by God’s grace nothing happened to you all.’
“It’s hard but we can still keep going, God will give us the means to move forward.”
Nancy’s only wish is to be able to provide a warm home for her family before colder days arrive, citing the Texas freeze in February as a major concern. The house can protect them from rain but not so much the dropping temperatures winter brings.
Julian, who lost his laptop in the fire, would like a replacement in order to continue his studies while Joseph would like to replace his Nintendo Switch — items they currently cannot afford.
Donations for this family, and others, can be made by contributing to the Spirit of Christmas campaign through the United Way of South Texas. They can be reached at (956) 686-6331 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Due to COVID- 19, only monetary donations are being accepted for families in need.
