Kenner parish mourns, reaches out to fire victims

    Tragedy struck in the wee hours of the morning May 31 when fire ravaged a Kenner home, leaving in its wake a family without a mother and daughter.
    The Rumbo family – Eloy Rumbo, Elideth Lopez and their children Eloy, 14, Emanuel, 10, and Escarlett, 5 – had only lived in the New Orleans area for approximately three years, having moved here from Florida. They were originally from Mexico but have been in the United States about 14 years.

    Since living in Kenner, they had become active and beloved members of Divine Mercy Parish in Kenner. They volunteered as a family to clean the parish’s Nativity of Our Lord Church and parish hall, said Father David Dufour, pastor. They also regularly attended the parish’s 6:30 p.m. Spanish Mass, where the boys were altar servers.
     “They are really close to Divine Mercy and always helped,” family friend and Divine Mercy volunteer Vicky Miranda said. “They do everything for the church. They were really involved. … We have a lot of different celebrations, and she (Elideth) was always the one to coordinate the celebrations, especially Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
    On May 31, Kenner firefighters received a call at 3:16 a.m. that a fire broke out at 1800 39th at Connecticut streets “with people trapped in the dwelling,” said Kenner Fire Chief John Hellmers. “Usually that means that someone is still left in the building.”
    Because the house is only blocks from Kenner Fire Station 37 on 40th Street, a unit was on the scene at 3:20 a.m. Sixteen firefighters, including Chief Hellmers, two district chiefs and an assistant chief, responded to the one-alarm blaze. The fire was put under control at 4:04 a.m., but the home was heavily damaged.
    “The fire gutted a third of the building before we got on the scene,” Chief Hellmers said. “It was remarkable to see the amount of damage in the attic area. For an occupied house it was hard to see how anybody survived.”
    From what Chief Hellmers understood, Eloy, Elideth and their two sons escaped the fire but realized Escarlett was still inside. Elideth ran back in. The fire overcame her, and she was  trapped.
    Neighbors pointed firefighters to the window where she was, and the two were pulled out of the house and taken to Ochsner Medical Center-Kenner. The Jefferson Parish coroner’s office determined they died of smoke inhalation, Hellmers said. Eloy and his sons were taken to Ochsner’s main campus and were released June 1 with minor injuries.
    The fire destroyed all of the Rumbo’s possessions. They now need everything – clothing, a place to stay, food, etc. The American Red Cross immediately responded with emergency housing in an apartment for four days for the surviving family.
    Divine Mercy’s parish office also has been inundated with donations of money and furniture to help the family. The family was acknowledged at the June 2 Mass, and a funeral Mass for Elideth and Escarlett was scheduled June 6 at Divine Mercy Parish.
    Miranda said a bank account was established to help the family with funeral expenses. To donate, go to any Capital One branch and ask for Alex Barraza and account number 5627239116.
    Kenner District 3 Councilman Keith Reynaud and his wife, Donna, are spearheading an effort to collect donations for the family and have donated storage space to hold small household items, toiletries and clothing.
    A teacher at Greenlawn Terrace Elementary in Kenner – where Emmanuel is a student and Escarlett recently graduated from kindergarten – has donated her home temporarily for the family to stay until permanent housing can be secured, Donna Reynaud said. A Girl Scout troop at the school also held a drive for clothing and household items for the Rumbo family.
    Miranda said physically the father and sons “are doing fine,” but she said that because the Rumbos were a tight-knit family that did almost everything together, the loss of a mother and daughter “is going to be hard.”
     “She was a wonderful lady working so much not only for the church but the community,” family friend Mariana Montero said. “I had a nonprofit organization Golden Change, and she was so helpful to me. We worked together to defend people in need – clothes, furniture, everything. She was so giving.”
    Montero said Elideth – who was to turn 41 on June 14 – was scheduled to distribute clothes to the needy on June 4.
    “ She was good mother and good wife,” Montero said. “It’s really a loss. She was so giving. Whenever you asked her for any help. She was there. … The little girl was wonderful and she used to say my best thing was my mother and she is now with her mother.”
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarionherald.org.