Schaumburg fire victims' neighbors pull together a little Christmas cheer
Neighbors of a Schaumburg family who lost their home, their belongings and two pet cats in a house fire are doing what they can to lift some of the bleakness off the family's Christmas.
Michelle Diaz walked around the Sheffield subdivision after Saturday morning's fire, collecting money from neighbors who were grateful to be able to assist.
"The neighbors were incredible, they were like, 'What can we do, what can we do?'" Diaz said.
Diaz and her daughter, Kim, who raised money at Barnes & Noble where she works, collected $843. Another neighbor raised $600.
Diaz said the family, now in a hotel, came over Sunday to pick up the money, telling her the donations will help.
The family - a husband, wife, two college-age daughters and a son at Schaumburg High School - were "very humble," Diaz said. "They didn't know what to say."
Diaz and her husband, Orlando, were shoveling their driveway on the 100 block of Aspen Drive when a loud "boom" alerted them to flames shooting from a neighbor's house. Orlando, an off-duty Niles firefighter, rushed inside and grabbed Daisy, the family dog.
The cause of the fire has been put down to fireplace ashes.
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