'We lost a lot:' After escaping fire with their lives, family realizes their safe with their savings is gone



Fire near 70th and Dickinson



MILWAUKEE -- Days after a Milwaukee family lost nearly everything in a house fire, they were dealt another blow. They said someone broke into their home at 70th and Dickinson and stole a safe, with all of their savings inside.

Angel Suarez, his fiance Amanda Kuklinski and their children say despite the loss, they feel fortunate the whole family is alive and well. The family had a scare on Monday March 12th when their home ignited from an extension cord.

Suarez and their one-month-old daughter, escaped through a window with the help of Roman Electric employees who were passing by.

Angel Suarez



"It was getting louder and louder and got up and seen the smoke detector blinking. I fainted for like 15 seconds and then I seen my baby on the floor. There was no way I can die here and have my baby die here. I picked her up and got the energy to go out the window," said Suarez.

The window wouldn't budge. It was at that moment that Roman Electric employees who happened to be in the area saw Suarez and ran up to help. Moments later, Suarez got a second window open, with the Roman Electric employees were on the other side.

Fire near 70th and Dickinson



Fire near 70th and Dickinson



Another tenant jumped to safety from a balcony, as another electrical worker raised the ladder on his truck, trying to rescue a man, 79, trapped upstairs. Fire officials would later get the man out through the porch. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Suarez said he knows how lucky he was.

He showed FOX6 the window he handed he escaped from. His daughter's room, which they recently decorated before she was born, is ruined from smoke.

"I'm just glad I'm alive and got a chance to save my daughter," he said.

Angel Suarez





Suarez and his fiance can't fathom why someone would take their safe after all they have been through.

"We're trying to save for our wedding so all the money we had in the safe...it don't make no sense. Why would someone, knowing what happened -- the loss we already lost -- to take that?" they said.





But even after losing everything, and then some, this family said they haven't lost what truly matters most in life.

They said Wednesday they're in the process of filing a report with the Milwaukee Police Department.



Meanwhile, they did get some good news after all that they have been through. On Monday, we told you their cat was missing after the blaze. They found the cat safe, hiding in a corner of the basement.



If you'd like to help this family, you're invited to CLICK HERE to donate to a GoFundMe.com account set up for them.