After tragedy, a Penrose family with three children found themselves living in a borrowed RV with a view of their charred former home.
The Balkey family is without a permanent place to call home after their trailer, located at the 900 block of S St. in Penrose, was consumed by an electrical fire on Thursday, May 23.
"Finding a place to live is the biggest challenge right now," said Dan Balkey, 62. "A neighbor was kind enough to let me borrow his RV for now. I had never met him before the fire. Before that, we stayed in the Holiday Inn for a few days with money from the Red Cross and at a friend's house."
Balkey and his wife, Adisa, 35, lost nearly all their belongings in the blaze, including their most treasured possessions.
"We can't find my wife's jewelry. Clothing is gone," he said. "The back bedroom didn't go up in flames all the way, but there might be five percent of stuff that's still good back there."
Their children, Muazzin, 4; Eiliyah, 9; and Anees, 10, also suffered significant losses.
"The three kids lost all their stuff, but they are handling it pretty well," Balkey said. "They are soldiers. I can't believe how good they are after losing their iPhones, their Nintendo, their Xbox."
Although their belongings are gone, Balkey is thankful they still have their lives.
"No one was home during the fire, thank God," he said. "I found out about it when the neighbor called and said there was an explosion, and the house was on fire. I was at the field and track day for the kids' last day of school down at Penrose Park."
A fundraising bank account has been set up to help the Balkey family. To donate, visit any Pueblo Bank and Trust and mention Dan or Adisa Balkey or make out a check to Dan and Adisa Balkey with "for donation fund" written in the "for" section of the check and mail it to the bank's Cañon City address, 1401 Main St.
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