Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2003 | 10:55 a.m.
After a fire burned her family's Christmas tree with the rest of their apartment last week, 3-year-old Isamar Velez thought Santa Claus wouldn't come this year.
"She said he wouldn't come if there was no tree," said the girl's mother, Ana Silvia Velez.
But now firefighters from Las Vegas Fire & Rescue have made sure the girl and her brother, 5-year-old Oscar, will continue to believe in St. Nick and Christmas.
The firefighters of Station 43 and Station 6 were touched by the Velez family's plight after an accidental fire gutted the kitchen of their Las Vegas apartment Dec. 15. So they gave them a tree and presents Monday.
"They are a hard-working family with no insurance," said Capt. James Suarez of Station 43. "They were extremely upset that their tree and presents burned, so we decided we would adopt them for the holidays and surprise them with presents, especially for those kids."
Although there were no injuries, the family lost their pet bird, all of their furniture and belongings, and their Christmas tree. Damage was estimated at $25,000, according to the fire department.
Ana Silvia Velez was walking her son to school the day the one-story wood frame apartment burned. No one was in the apartment at the time. Velez said firefighters told her the fire was caused by a burner left on in her electric stove, though she also said she wasn't cooking anything at the time.
The family has since moved into a new apartment, located in the same complex on Washington Avenue near Jones Boulevard. It is the third apartment they've lived in on the site since arriving from Jalisco, Mexico, seven years ago. They had to leave the first one when a water heater from above them burst, damaging their apartment.
"If it's not fire, it's water," Velez said.
The family had to pay nearly a half month's rent as a deposit on the new apartment, Velez said. The family's breadwinner is her husband, also named Oscar. He's a construction worker.
Their latest apartment is nearly bare, Suarez said. "Everything they had was basically lost in that fire, caused by heavy heat and smoke damage," he said.
"As of now, all four of them are sleeping in the same sofa hide-a-bed and that's all they have."
The firefighters got together to pick out some toys at a local Toys for Tots site Monday morning and gathered in the Station 43 kitchen to wrap the gifts.
Velez said she didn't know what the gifts were, but that the children were happy.
Suarez said the crew had originally planned to surprise the family with the toys on Christmas Eve, but there was a slight change in plans.
"A county firefighter who owns a Christmas tree lot donated a tree for the family," he said. "Since they lost their first tree in the fire, we thought we'd surprise them with a new one. They needed something to put the presents under."
The crew of men also bought lights and ornaments to go along with the evergreen, and brought them to the house on Monday to start their surprise early.
Isamar was excited when the firefighters came over to help decorate the tree, firefighter and paramedic Jeff Blackwell said.
"It was worth everything seeing that little girl's expression," Blackwell said. "That little girl ran out, saw us putting presents under the tree and her eyes lit up. She ran and grabbed her brother to show him. It was great."
Blackwell said Isamar may not have understood who they were, but certainly understood the presents.
But Velez said her daughter has spoken of wanting to be a firefighter when she grows up -- even before the fire. Her son wants to be a police officer, she said.
The two children will be getting more presents under their tree at 10 a.m. today, Suarez said.
A number of presents were scattered around the firehouse kitchen table Monday evening, including toy firefighters and police officers, drawing and design kits, a Disney tea-party set, and coloring books.
The all-male crew seemed to have a little trouble wrapping the tea-party kit, which was inside a giant plastic teakettle.
The firefighters laughed as they tried to wrap the oddly shaped container. After two attempts, they managed to cover the teakettle with snowman wrapping paper and a load of Scotch tape.
"This is where you separate the guys who have kids from the guys that don't," said firefighter John Bruner.
Bruner, with experience wrapping presents for his own family, took over the teakettle.
The firefighters decided they wanted to find some furniture for the family as well, Suarez said.
"When we got there and saw that they were on that hide-a-bed all together, we knew we needed to do something," he said. "Levitz Furniture is going to donate a couch and a dining room table."
The firefighters are looking forward to the surprise.
Velez said Tuesday she was happy with the Christmas firefighters had already given her family.
"After something bad, there's always something good," she said.
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