EDGEWOOD, Wash. - Still no cause has been found for a fire Tuesday night that destroyed six units at the Overlook Terrace Apartments in Edgewood. One of the displaced families is dealing with two challenges -- homelessness and a newborn with a heart defect.
In a strange twist of fate, Jerry Orona and Andrea Robinson's newborn son was at Seattle Children's Tuesday getting open heart surgery. The one-month old escaped the wrath of the apartment fire.
"Everything was totally destroyed," said Orona after visiting their burnt-out apartment. "Melted! Everything's just melted. Everything stinks, it's wet, everything's destroyed, everything's gone."
A tearful Robinson said the result is making it hard for her to visit their son. "We found out there was asbestos in there. We're not supposed to get anywhere near him. I have to wash my clothes before I go near him."
What few belongings survived the flames can fit in the front of their car.
"Here's a picture of me when I was a baby," says Robinson holding a photo of a young girl in a yellow dress. "Here's my bible," says Orona. "Everything around it burned but this survived." He holds up a medal attached to a green, white and blue ribbon. "This is one of the medals I got after serving in Iraq."
The couple has no renter's insurance. All of baby Christopher's things are ruined. Dad Jerry, who works at Tim's Cascade Chips, says they need to start over and find a place to stay and replace Christopher's nursery. Yet in his misery, he has nothing but praise for friends and neighbors who offered blankets, restrooms and hot coffee.
"It's just amazing how something like this can happen and you see all the good in people who come together to help strangers out," says Orona.
An account has been establilshed to help the family. It's called the "Jerry Orona Donation Account" at KeyBank.
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