JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – About a year ago, Sandra Martínez and her children suddenly needed help with a place to live after her husband was deported.
Her cousin, 24-year-old Linton Alejandro Munguía Martínez, stepped up, giving the family a place to stay at his apartment in the St. Nicholas area of Jacksonville.
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But tragedy struck Sunday at the Landon Imperial Apartments on Art Museum Drive.
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An early morning fire not only left Sandra and her children without a home once again, but also took the life of the cousin who had been so generous to her family.
“I was in my room with my kids, and the other guy was in the other room, and another guy slept in the living room,” Sandra said, recounting the chaotic moments as she tried to escape the fire with her children. “When he yelled, I walked out and saw a lot of smoke and flames. I grabbed my kids and broke the window along with the other guy who was staying with us. And I yelled for him to exit through the window, but the smoke was so heavy.”
Fabiola Marmolejo, a family friend, said Munguía Martínez was trying to help others escape when the fire broke out.
“The victim that died was helping Sandra Martinez and her kids and two other guys,” Marmolejo said.
She said the fire has shaken the neighborhood.
“As a community, you know, we need to get together. It could happen to me, it could happen to anybody,” Marmolejo said.
Margarita Weber, a local community member, purchased food for Sandra and her family at Publix. She encourages anyone who can to step in and help the family.
“Please, whether you speak Spanish or you speak English, help. If you are human, you know what the word human means. Help them because today could be them, tomorrow could be you,” she said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Linton’s family in the wake of the tragedy.