SAN MARCOS, Calif. (KGTV) - Some emotional moments unfolded as fire victims in San Marcos were reunited with their beloved cat 4 days after a 3-alarm fire.
I first met the Lezama family a week ago, a day after a fire destroyed their San Marcos apartment and nearly all of their belongings. The fire would take nearly everything, but it would not take 3-year-old Nina, their family cat.
Cellphone shows the moments after an emotional Tania Lezama was reunited with Nina late Friday night, after Lezama's daughter, Karen, found her.
"So that video was probably the first time since the fire that she had smiled," Karen said.
Karen lived at the home in the Cactus Garden Apartments with her mom and brother, Luis.
"It's such a blessing," Luis said about holding Nina again.
I last spoke with the Lezama family last Tuesday, a day after Tania ran out of the home barefoot, with half her apartment on fire. She was the only one home at the time.
"I was scared. Didn't know what to do," Tania said.
She only had time to leave the front door open, praying Nina and a cat they were cat sitting for might get out.
The three-alarm fire damaged units in two different apartment buildings, displacing more than 2 dozen people. The cause remains under investigation.
For the Lezama family, even thinking about the recovery process seemed impossible.
"It's hard recovering from something when something is still missing," Tania said.
Every day, Karen and others would search for Nina near the apartment. On the day after the fire, Karen spotted her.
"She was confused. My house was here, but there's nothing left anymore, so she was on our, what was left of our roof," Karen said.
Each time they saw Nina, she would run away. The cat they had been cat sitting was found a few days later.
Then on Friday, right near their front door, Nina walked up to their car before Karen grabbed her.
"We were, I was just petting her and hugging her for like 5 minutes," Karen said.
"Just the fact we could keep a member of our family safe, it means everything," Luis said.
With their family complete, the Lezamas helped organize a backyard fundraiser for all the fire victims this past weekend, raising more than $6,000.
"We can finally focus on moving forward rather than trying to find something that was lost," Karen said.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the Lezama family with their recovery.
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