After House Fire, Father And Son Remain Hospitalized

Bradenton FL

07 December, 2020

4:00 PM

Description

BRADENTON, FL — A father and son remain hospitalized after their family lost everything, including their home, in a fire on Thursday. Adrian Lopez, Sr. and Adrian Lopez, Jr., who were burned in the fire, are being treated at Blake Hospital. At a press conference in front of their burned home on Monday, Adrian, Sr.'s younger brother, Roger Lopez, said they're "stable for now," adding, "This is going to be a very long process. I can only imagine what they will go through. They're being strong about it, so hopefully they will come through." Francisca Lopez – Adrian, Sr.'s wife and Adrian, Jr.'s mother – was also injured in the fire and eventually released. Adrian Lopez, Sr. and his wife, Francisca Lopez (Courtesy of Czaia Law) Karina Lopez, the daughter of Adrian, Sr. and Francisca, wasn't home at the time of the fire. She's been helping her family in the days since the tragedy. "Obviously, for burn victims it takes a long time to heal and my mom is still in shock of everything," Karina said at Monday's press conference. "The images keep playing in her head. She's slowly getting through it. We just hope they all heal mentally and physically." The family's home was destroyed in the fire and they lost everything they own. Community leaders have organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to assist the family. All money raised will go directly to them. After an explosion Thursday afternoon, Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue and other local agencies battled the blaze at the Lopez's home at 804 29th Ave. West into the evening. The father and son were taken to the hospital shortly after the explosion, said Cesar Garcia, a spokesperson for the family. Francisca was brought to Blake several hours later. CHFR had been in the area of the Lopez's home since around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, initially responding to reports of a natural gas leak in the 2900 block of 9th Street West, Chief Kyle Bradshaw said. TECO gas also responded to locate the source of the gas leak, which they noticed was coming out of the sewer lines, he said. As TECO employees searched for the exact source of the leak, the explosion occurred at the Lopez's home. Since Cedar Hammock already had fire units in the area, firefighters quickly repositioned their equipment to tackle the fire, Bradshaw said. After the fire was contained, TECO and Manatee County Public Works worked into early Friday morning to repair the sewer and gas lines. Like what you're reading? Invite a friend to subscribe to free Bradenton newsletters and real-time email alerts. Several Manatee County commissioners, including Reggie Bellamy, George Kruse and Carol Whitmore, were at Monday's press conference. Bellamy said an investigation of the fire is under way. "This is a very unfortunate situation, but we want to make sure there's some accountability there," he said. The commissioners said the county will assist the Lopez family during their recovery. Whitmore said, "We will make sure that this family gets taken care of through this terrible tragedy." Numerous individuals and county agencies are eager to help the Lopez family, Kruse added. "Within minutes" of his emailing county contacts they were "all jumping through hoops trying to help this family out," he said. "We want people to know that Manatee County is there to help everybody and everyone in need, whether it's during the corona(virus) pandemic or during the holiday season," Kruse said. "We showed over the course of this weekend how much we could mobilize this government and this administration to help people of Manatee County." He also implored other community members to step up and help the family as they recover from the fire. Roger and Karina thanked everyone who has donated to them or helped in other ways. "Thank you so much to the community," Roger said. "This family is gonna need a lot of help and it's gonna be a long process, so we really need everyone to come out and please help us."