SUSSEX COUNTY, Del.- Luis Hernandez plays back the moment on Saturday when his wife noticed a glow out of the corner of her eye.
"She got up and yelled fire, there’s a fire and there it was on the patio," Hernandez said.
Hernandez says the fire came over his head. That’s when April grabbed their dog Scout and they escaped unharmed.
The Delaware State Fire Marshal estimated $75,000 in damages because of the fire. The cause is still under investigation.
Hernandez is the president of Higher Ground Outreach, an organization that has only existed for about three months. Its aim is to help families and individuals that are homeless and/or have addictions. He says the work does not stop even through personal hardship.
"What we do at Higher Ground Outreach doesn’t end because of what personal things are happening to me," Hernandez said. "It didn’t matter. You know, we got up early on Sunday morning and went to tent cities and started doing the work that we always do."
The work is endless for a problem plaguing Sussex County. Despite the fire, Luis and April are working very hard to continue to get the homeless the things they need. That includes driving them to appointments.Â
The outreach has helped Terri Monroe through difficult times and she could only break down in tears talking about when she heard about the fire.
"It hurt my heart," Monroe said. "It still hurts my heart that they’re going through what they’re going through."
A GoFundMe page was started for the couple by a friend of theirs and over 40 people have already made donations.