Gofundme set up to help victims who lost home in Pittsburg fire

PITTSBURG, Calif. (BCN) - Pittsburg police said a GoFundMe page has been set up to accept donations for the victims of a fire Wednesday evening that injured a blind man and destroyed a home for him, a 19-year-old pregnant woman expecting her first child and her godmother.

The GoFundMe page was set up today at https://www.gofundme.com/2qckqyyc.

Pittsburg police Capt. Rathnesh Raman said the injured man is in the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Monique Chaves, who set up the GoFundMe page, wrote, "They have pretty much lost everything. If anyone can help with money toward a deposit on a new place or to help them get back on their feet after such a horrible situation it would be greatly appreciated."

Chaves identified the injured man by the first name Jim. He was said to be in his 60s. 

A police officer was also injured and required surgery to his forearm after breaking a window to get into the home, Raman and Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Marshal Robert Marshall said.

Raman said the officer will recover and he is in good spirits. He may have suffered artery and nerve damage. 

"They can't get through the front door they end up smashing the window out. That's where the officer sustained the injury," says Pittsburgh Police Sgt. James Terry. 

"He didn't care that he was bleeding he just wanted to get inside the house," said Officer Zachary Haller. 

The injured officer didn't make it in, but Haller did. 

Firefighters responded at about 7:30 p.m. to the first block of West 11th Street where a two-alarm fire was burning the rear and roof of a small single-story home, Marshall said.

Responding police forced the front door open and called to Jim on the floor. The officers determined he was unconscious and took him outside where they performed CPR until firefighters arrived to give him oxygen.

Paramedics were able to revive Jim and both he and the officer were taken to a hospital.

Jim suffered pretty severe smoke inhalation and doctors were going to give him a breathing tube to help him breathe, Marshall said.

Firefighters kept the flames to the rear and roof of the home, but smoke caused damage throughout the home, according to Marshall.

Fire investigators are not sure of the cause of the fire but they think it was accidental. The damage is estimated to be $202,000.