Fresno family starts anew after devastating apartment fire

FRESNO, Calif. — The Decubas family is looking ahead as they rebuild their lives after an apartment fire destroyed much of what they owned in Fresno on Thursday.

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This has never happened to me before, said Luis Debcubas.

Decubas and his two young daughters were asleep inside their apartment when a fire ignited at 12 midnight at the Campus Chalet Apartments.

He said his two daughters managed to escape the flames without any injuries, but a majority of their apartment was left in ashes.

The fire tore through the kitchen and left portions of the bedrooms badly damaged from smoke.

Candice Stanton, a close family friend of the Decubas', has created a GoFundMe account to help the family recover many of the items that were lost in the fire. The fund's goal is set at $10,000.

According to the GoFundMe, Stanton writes,

Luis is a single father raising two teenage girls on his own. This family is always willing to help others, and they go above and beyond to help.

Decubas works as a lunch duty assistant for the Fresno Unified School District. His youngest daughter is 10 years old and will be attending summer school this month. He said the fire burned all of his daughter's school supplies, including her laptop.

"I'll have to replace that," he said.

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His other daughter is 14 years old and will be a freshman at Hoover High School in Fresno in the Fall.

Other items the family is in need of:

• Microwave
• Pots and pans
• Bedding for the girls' bedrooms

"Shoes for the girls," said Decubas. "Right now, friends have been coming over to visit."

On Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after the fire was put out, Decubas was able to secure another apartment in the same complex for his family.

This is a developing story.