L.A. Volunteer Ministers Respond to Tragic House Fire

North Hills, CA, January 25, 2016 (Newswire.com) - The Los Angeles Chapter of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers responded to a local house fire, assisting resident family who nearly lost everything. In the early morning hours of January 9th, a fire broke out in the Los Angeles family’s home, believed by arson investigators to have been caused by an electrical short.  The fire quickly took hold, consuming a majority of the house.

The family was barely able to escape with just inches of breathing room available as they exited the house.  The responding fire department worked quickly in order to prevent the fire from threatening neighboring homes.  The family dog was not able to escape the house and perished in the fire.

"I am very, very thankful for the Volunteer Minister's help. Just the organization that they put in when they arrived, and getting other volunteers to help in an organized way, really handled a lot of the confusion we were dealing with. They didn't just offer sympathy but looked to see what we needed and that's what they did. This was a big relief and helped my family greatly."

R. Stickles

The house itself was a complete loss and thousands of dollars of personal possessions, many irreplaceable, were consumed by the flames. 

The Los Angeles Chapter of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers learned of the fire just hours after it occurred.  They quickly mobilized and arrived on the scene to find the family in borrowed clothes and the remainder of their personal belongings wet and soot stained in the front yard of what remained of the house.  After ensuring the safety and health of the family, the volunteers went to work, salvaging what belongings they could, arranging food donations, washing soot and smoke stained laundry so that the family would have clean clothes to wear and scrubbing clean the youngest child’s toys so that he would not feel like he had lost all of his playthings.

R. Stickles, the mother of the family, expressed her gratitude, “I am very, very thankful for the Volunteer Minister’s help.  Just the organization that they put in when they arrived, and getting other volunteers to help in an organized way, really handled a lot of the confusion we were dealing with.  They didn’t just offer sympathy but looked to see what we needed and that’s what they did.  This was a big relief and helped my family greatly.”

The Volunteer Ministers are a global force of people from all cultures and walks of life who are committed to helping others. The Los Angeles Chapter is supported from the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles and responds to and helps those from the local community.  If you are interested in joining or helping the volunteer ministers, please contact Betsy Davis, Director of Public Outreach.

Contact: Betsy Davis, Director of Public Outreach
Church of Scientology Los Angeles - 323.953.3200 ext 35661​

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