SAN ANTONIO — A house fire left a west-side family out in the cold instead of planning their Christmas celebration.
A cooked turkey sat on a broken-down patio table outside the Segura family’s house Saturday. A symbol of Christmas tradition, the turkey never made it to an oven. Instead, the meat was seared by the same flames that destroyed the home.
"He didn't believe it at first," Karina Segovia said Friday night, gesturing to her boyfriend, Roland Rodriguez.
"I still don't believe it. It's true, but I don't believe it. I'm still like, wow," Rodriguez said.
The pair lived together at the house on Rivas Street which belonged to Roland’s grandparents, along with a few other relatives. Rodriguez said it is the only home he's ever known.
"We lost everything.” Segovia said, struggling to get the words out.
“We don't do nothing wrong. We work, we stick to ourselves, and now we have nothing," she said.
After fire crews spent the frigid night dowsing the rafters the water formed into icicles, dampening the floor a day later.
"There were three families,” Roland’s cousin Auvista Cortez said, looking over the damage.
“My cousin Roland and his girlfriend. My uncle Louise, and his wife America, and then my aunt America," she said.
Auvista said that when her grandfather, Alfredo Segura, died in 2019, he left the house to the family members who needed the most help. She said of the five of them, one can work, while the others are on disability.
Estrellita Cortez, Auvista’s mother and eldest daughter of Alfredo and Elida Segura, said the house that burned down Friday night was the backup plan the family would have looked to in case of emergency.
"If our house would have burned down, my house, I could have come here to live,” Estrellita said. “Any of the brothers or sisters who were homeless or were having a bad time, they could have come here."
This is how, On Christmas Eve, these 3 small families found themselves in search of a warm place to lay their heads.
With little income in the house, they were not able to get it insured. A GoFundMe page has been set up for anyone who wants to help. The family is also accepting help on Cash App at $segura1330.
"They're going to have to jump from family member to family member's house for now, but if anybody can help with that, we'd greatly appreciate that. Auvista said, thanking in advance anyone who reaches out to help.
”God bless you. Thank you all. We're just happy that we're alive and our family's okay."