73-Year-Old Grandmother Loses Home in Bella Vista Fire

A family in Bella Vista village, Toledo, escaped an early Sunday morning fire that destroyed both their home and their family business. The fire broke at around 4 o’clock in the morning.

73-year-old Felicita Ruiz escaped the blaze alongside her daughter Zarahi Pineda, eight-year-old granddaughter and son-in-law Greville Bonilla.

News 5 confirmed that the family also managed to get their vehicles out before the structure was consumed.

“My mother is okay and strong,” Ruiz’s daughter, Maria Stephanie Mejia, told News 5. “We know that God is strengthening us because my mother has a smile on her face.”

Mejia says that despite being away, the family is grateful to the Bella Vista community for the support being given to her mother.

Ruiz was known in the community for selling household and clothing items through Facebook Live sales. She lost everything in the blaze, according to Mejia.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Anyone wishing to assist the family can contact them through Facebook, including Felicita Caballero or Zarahi Pineda.