CLEVELAND — Firefighters often investigate to figure out what sparked a fire, but the Diluzio family had proof, thanks to their home camera system.
Darren Hindman was on his way to chemotherapy when he noticed smoke coming from his neighbor’s house. Hindman and a post office worker rushed to the back of the house.
“First, she said she heard a dog, and I said let's get the dog out. But as soon as we opened the door the smoke just came out. She couldn't go in, so I handed her my chemo pump so I could go inside,” said Hindman.
Hindman says he couldn’t go far because of the smoke, but they were able to help one of the dogs out of the house.
According to the Brook Park Fire Department, they were called to a structure fire around noon on Mercer Drive and were able to rescue the rest of the family’s animals.
“We lost all our stuff, but the cats and the dogs made it out alive, and that was all I was worried about,” Chris Diluzio said.
Diluzio and his family were not home during the fire but were shocked after looking at their kitchen camera when they realized one of their dogs had caused the fire.
“You could see that Harvey was trying to get some stuff that was left on the counter and leaning over the stove, and he turned the stove on. Which then caught some papers that were next to it,” said Diluzio.
Diluzio says the fire damaged the kitchen and some of their kids’ rooms, including the downstairs basement, where his eldest son and nephew sleep.
“It just made me sad to hear that my stuff was probably damaged and probably going to be lost, “ Kayden Diluzio said.
Chris says the hardest part about this experience is losing things that can never be replaced.
“My mom recently passed away a couple years ago, and a lot of the stuff that was from my mom was either right in the living room, on the refrigerator or hung up on the walls. And a lot of that stuff is gone,” Diluzio said.
Since the fire, he has been living in a camper in his driveway while his wife and kids temporarily stay in a hotel.
“They told us six to eight months we would be out the house, but I’m so impatient I want to get in here and start doing the stuff myself, because I hate looking at all my stuff like this. I can at least determine what's good, what we can save, what we can wash and what we got to throw out,” said Diluzio.
With the community support, the family started a GoFundMe page to help with some bills. So far, they have raised $6,000 toward their $10,000 goal.
If you would like to donate, you can CLICK HERE.
