PALM BAY, Fla. – There’s still a big unanswered question one week since two children and their mother died from a fire.
Friday, a fire adjuster at the Country Gardens condos updated News 6 reporter James Sparvero the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“The exact cause, they’re not sure of yet,” John Schartrand of Strategic Claim Consultants said. “Probably gonna have to take some evidence out, have it tested like some of the sockets, things like that, to see if that was the cause or if it was a computer or a piece of electronics.”
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Schartrand also said residents who lived next to the condo that caught on fire are still displaced.
”Right now, while the investigations are going on, they’re not gonna be able to live there,” he said.
For some others, emotional trauma has also kept them away from home.
“Some of the neighbors, they can’t even come back yet because, they knew the people there,” Schartrand said. “They walk out and they see it. It brings back the memories that are still pretty fresh.”
Next for the property, the adjuster said as soon as the fire investigators conclude their work, then contractors can get in the building and start reconstruction.
“The loss of life, that’s the one thing that we can’t fix,” Schartrand said.
A 15-year-old inside the home was able to safely get out of the unit.
In the last week, the family of those who died have raised nearly $30,000 they said in-part to help pay for the funerals of 11-year-old Emmanuel, 7-year-old Zayla, and their mother, Betty Mendre.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help assist the family.
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