On February 27, 2017, a fire struck the home of an Amarillo community volunteer and the community poured out its love to help get a family back on its feet.
John Betancourt, a member of the Amarillo Independent School District board of trustees and frequent community volunteer, recalls the moment he heard that a blaze had engulfed his home.
"I was at work and it was a Monday, actually," Betancourt says reflecting on the events of February 27th. "I was finishing my shift at Bell Helicopter and I got a call."
Betancourt says that the person on the other end of the line told him that his house was on fire and hung up. The Amarillo native says he frantically drove home to find his block barricaded up and neighbors standing on the sidewalk.
"I parked down the street and ran to the house," he says. "I just found it completely engulfed in flames."
At the time of the fire's start, Betancourt says his retired neighbor happened to be outside and smelled smoke. The neighbor, who Betancourt describes as "a superhero," ran to the house and began banging on the windows and doors. A friend of Betancourt's was asleep in the house and managed to escape after the quick actions of the neighbor. In addition, Betancourt's dogs were also able to escape.
After the fire was put out, Betancourt says that he remembers going through the debris and trying to salvage what he could.
"I left with some clothes and my grandparents' wedding pictures," Betancourt says. "I walked out of there with almost nothing."
Immediately following, Betancourt says that the occupants of the house, ranging from adults to children to small animals, stayed with his sister for a few days. After that, Betancourt says he lived out of a hotel room and eventually moved to a rental home, where he has been since April of last year.
Since the fire, Betancourt says he has had to fight the insurance companies and has been consistently working on rebuilding the home. He says that as this was the first home he had ever purchased, he never expected that such an event would affect him but that the community's support helped him weather the storm.
If you are ever in a situation like this, Betancourt says that you should contact the American Red Cross. He says that when the fire struck his family, the Red Cross was there and told him how to do things that needed to be done after such an event.
Reflecting on the events, almost a year later, the AISD trustee says that he is continually grateful for Amarillo and the people of the area who helped him get back up on his feet after the devastating incident.
"I'm forever grateful," he says.
