Bristol family loses everything in fire, looking for way to recover

BRISTOL, Conn. (WFSB) - A family in Bristol is trying to figure out their living situation more than one week after a fire destroyed their home.

The family feels like they have nowhere left to turn.

For 13 years, the Rivera’s called the house on South Street Extension home, but a fire took that home from them on Friday, March 10th.

They lost almost everything, and for the past week, they’ve been homeless,

“I’m like homeless,” said Suheidi Rivera.

“Staying everywhere we can, you know, like parks, garages, like gas stations,” said James.

Suheidi Rivera and her family are living out of their cars.

They are looking for answers and guidance on what to do next.

“That’s all we need is help,” said Suheidi. “We want the direction that we need to get an apartment.”

After losing their home, the Rivera’s say they’ve reached out to just about everyone for help.

“Call, call, I call like, my phone has every number I could find to help and ‘oh, I’ll call you back,’ ‘okay, here’s another number to call,’ and calling, calling, calling,” Suheidi said.

Those calls went out to her landlord, the Red Cross, and other agencies, but nobody seems to have a clear answer on what her family needs to do now.

“A warm place to stay, that’s what we need. It’s that to start over, and just a warm house, good meals,” said Suheidi.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross was unavailable to talk this afternoon.

Channel 3 got in touch with the President of the Connecticut Property Owner’s Alliance.

He says situations like this are why having renters insurance is important.

“They need to contact the insurance company that sold them that policy and file a claim,” said Bob DeCosmo, President of the Connecticut Property Owner’s Alliance.

When families are displaced, he recommends reaching out to a real estate agent to help find a new place.

But as we’ve reported, housing inventory is low, and demand is high.

If you would like to support the Rivera family, CLICK HERE OR HERE.

Fire officials say the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

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