It started as a quiet evening in Michelle and Alirio Vanyo’s home on James Parkway in Elko New Market, a Christmas Eve filled with peace as decorations were placed on a tree and the family enjoyed time together. The night ended with their home and most of their possessions destroyed or damaged by a fire.
It all changed around 7:25 p.m. A fire started in the garage. Alirio said the fire inspectors told him the fire most likely started in a battery charger. A neighbor told Alirio he saw sparks, probably from the charger, from across the street, just before the fire started.
When the flames and smoke entered a mudroom/ laundry area just inside the house, Alirio used his training from the Navy, instincts and smarts to hook up a hose to a sink to buy his family time to gather boots, shoes, cell phones, a possession to two and escape.
Michelle came out of the bedroom and couldn’t see her husband or their three children through the dense smoke. She eventually escaped through the house’s front door. The children got out through a sliding glass door on a lower level. Alirio escaped out a different door.
As neighbors and police arrived to help, they quickly made sure the adults and children were accounted for as the flames...
To see more on this story pick up the January 5, 2023 print edition of The New Prague Times.
Family grateful for community’s support after fire took their home
