http://www.uticaod.com/archive/2005/02/16/news/20249.html
http://www.uticaod.com/archive/2005/02/16/news/20249.html
***********************************************************************************************************
| Print This Story | Email this Story to a friend | Subscribe to the Observer-Dispatch |
Wed, Feb 16, 2005
STEPHEN CLARK
Observer-Dispatch
UTICA -- Luis Grullon and his family stood across the street Tuesday afternoon and stoically watched the remains of their two-family home at 1605 Oneida St. razed by the city Department of Public Works.
The home was destroyed by a fire Monday night that also destroyed an eight-unit apartment building and displaced 14 families. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
For about two hours, Grullon, his two sons and his brother stood transfixed as their home was torn down, along with the memories they built over the last five years. They are
Please see CHURCH, 2A
Continued from 1A
now staying with different relatives in town and face an uncertain future. But they were comforted by the realization that it could have been worse.
"We're alive," said 22-year-old Luis Rafael Grullon, the eldest son, who has lived with his cousin for the last six months, but still lost many possessions in the fire.
"We just have to start all over again, as far as material possessions," added 19-year-old Luis Miguel Grullon, who lived in the upper unit with his wife and newborn daughter. "But life, you can't get back."
The Grullons did not have insurance, making it hard to regain what they lost.
"It still hurts," Luis Miguel Grullon said, "because my father worked hard to provide those things for us."
Luis Grullon, who speaks little English, works as a laborer for Interstate Cleaning Corp. The family is receiving help from the local temple of Jehovah's Witnesses, of which they are members, and the Utica chapter of the American Red Cross, which is providing food, clothing and shelter to the 14 families displaced by the fire.
Red Cross staff and volunteers will continue to help the victims as they begin rebuilding their lives, local officials said. Red Cross officials estimate that it will cost about $10,000 to help the families.
The two biggest hurdles the Red Cross faces are funding and staffing, spokeswoman Heather Peck said.
"A lot of people think we are government-funded," Peck said, "and that is not true. We depend on community support to fund (the victims of) these disasters."
The Red Cross also depends on volunteers to respond to disasters because its staff size comprises only nine employees. Responding to large-scale disasters requires versatility on the part of employees.
"In a disaster like this," Peck said, "we throw our jobs to the wind and do what is necessary to be done."
The Red Cross is working with other community agencies to assist with this disaster, including Faith Furniture and First Presbyterian Church.
Contact Stephen Clark at [email protected]