When Hollister resident Martin Gutierrez arrived home Monday
afternoon he saw something he had never seen in the 10 years he and
his family had lived in their house on Wright Road.
Hollister – When Hollister resident Martin Gutierrez arrived home Monday afternoon he saw something he had never seen in the 10 years he and his family had lived in their house on Wright Road.
Acrid, black smoke was pouring out of the modest-sized home.
Despite his attempts to squelch the flames with a garden hose and firefighters’ quick response that extinguished the fire within minutes, Gutierrez’s home was destroyed.
Charred pictures, seared clothes, blackened furniture and a pungent smell signifying a total loss of their possessions was all that remained for Gutierrez, his wife and two children.
“It upset my (11-year-old) daughter mostly because all her clothes are gone,” Gutierrez said. “And only three out of her five gold fish survived.”
Gutierrez called the owner of his house, Esther Hayhurst, immediately after discovering his burning home.
Besides 911, it was the most important call he would make.
By Tuesday afternoon, with the help of friends, family and other community members, Hayhurst had found the Gutierrez family a new home to live in until their house is renovated and supplied them with new furniture, clothing, appliances and food.
“I never thought anyone would do what she’s done for us,” Gutierrez said. “It’s hard to believe people will just help out like that.”
Hayhurst’s father was a firefighter in Hollister, and anytime a fire took a family’s home, she watched as he mustered community support to rally around that family and help them get back on their feet, she said.
“It was this way when I was growing up,” Hayhurst said. “With all the newcomers in town I thought people didn’t care about their neighbors, but they’ve really come through.”
Firefighters with the city of Hollister, California Department of Forestry and San Benito County responded to the fire just before 3pm and had the fire contained to a bedroom in about 15 minutes, said Hollister Chief Bill Garringer.
While only one back bedroom was burned, the entire house had smoke damage but will be able to be salvaged, Garringer said.
Hayhurst said fire investigators attributed the fire to a satellite receiver box that had been left on in the master bedroom of the 80-year-old house.
“This was just an unfortunate accident that could have even happened at my house,” she said. “It has made me very cautious.”
Hayhurst’s cousin offered the family a vacant house on Sally Street with the exact same rent, no deposit, no rental applications, no questions asked, Hayhurst said.
Hayhurst’s family members called friends, religious organizations and other people who had never met the Gutierrez family but gave anyway because the family was in need, Hayhurst said.
“These people didn’t have a lot and they worked hard for what they did have,” she said. “By Thanksgiving I’d like to see them have a house completely intact so they have something to really be thankful for again.”
After surviving a bad illness a couple years ago, Hayhurst said she’s not concerned about the loss of the house, but is thankful no one was hurt.
“I’m just grateful to wake up everyday, and whatever the day brings I just deal with it,” she said. “You don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff when you look at life instead of loss.”
When Hayhurst told her friends Richard and Jackie McAbee about the family’s situation, they immediately offered clothes from their store, McAbee Feed, and gathered pots and pans and a television, Jackie McAbee said.
“That’s what you do in times like that,” she said. “God forbid, if anything like that ever happened in my life I hope people would do that for us, as well.”
McAbee said Hayhurst’s enthusiasm in helping the needy family is typical of her.
“She’s really a go-getter,” she said. “If it happened to me I’d want her to be my landlord.”
