After an Arlington firefighter lost his home in a fire last week, a fundraiser to support his family has raised over $35,000.
Fire Capt. David Zuniga became aware of the blaze around 5:30 a.m. on Friday when his 18-year-old daughter got up to prepare for a friend’s graduation.
She saw flames outside her bedroom window and immediately woke up the family, Zuniga told ARLnow.
“I don’t set my alarm off until 6 a.m. on my days off,” the firefighter said. “If she hadn’t gotten up that morning when she did, I don’t think things would have worked out for us.”
Zuniga said his 20 years of firefighting helped him navigate the emergency. He used a garden hose to minimize some of the backyard flames and evacuated his neighbors.
SimpliSafe camera footage provided to ARLnow shows Zuniga banging on his neighbors’ door.
“Neighbor, you’ve got to get out!” he is heard shouting. “The house is on fire, the house is on fire! We’ve got to get out. Get the babies, get out.”
While everyone made it out safely, the fire completely destroyed the Zunigas’ home and damaged three others.
A GoFundMe campaign created Friday by Arlington Fire Capt. Cheryl Long reached 75% of its $37,500 goal within 24 hours. Some of that came from members of the Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Service, which responded to the fire.
“We’ve been blessed,” Zuniga said. “We’ve had so much support, it’s been overwhelming. Everything from the Arlington County Fire Department, the family, has been amazing … we get phone calls every day. They’ve opened their homes to us. They’ve sent meals over.”
Funds raised will help the Zunigas find temporary housing and replace immediate needs, like clothes, toiletries, food and school supplies. The family is currently staying at Zuniga’s sister’s home in Frederick.
Zuniga expressed deep gratitude to the responding firefighters. Upon learning Zuniga was a fellow firefighter, they invited the family to their firehouse for dinner on Friday.
“They showed us so much love and empathy,” Zuniga said. “They treated me like one of their own.”
Zuniga said he is thankful for the community’s outpouring of support and hopes the incident will remind others to check their smoke alarms and have an emergency plan in place.
“Hopefully they never have to experience something like this, but if they do, hopefully they’ll be prepared,” he said.
