The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station is rallying behind a deputy whose home burned down in Acton Thursday evening, killing his family’s four dogs.
Deputy David Delgado, who has been serving on the force for eight years, the last four of which have been at the SCV Sheriff’s Station, was on shift when he learned at approximately 8 p.m. that an electrical fire had broken out at his home on the 3000 block of West Acton Avenue.
“Right now, they believe it’s accidental and it was an electrical fire in the attic,” said Sgt. Ryan Elsee, of the SCV Sheriff’s Station. “Unfortunately, the house was a total loss.”
Fortunately, Elsee said, the Delgado family, including their two young sons, were not home at the time. However, their four dogs, Kiko, Khloe, Kora and Kiani were at home when the structure was lit ablaze.
“He was working overtime and his wife and kids weren’t home, but their dogs were,” said Elsee. “So unfortunately, their four dogs perished in the home.”
According to Amanda Morales, a spokeswoman at the Los Angeles County Fire Department, firefighters were called to the scene at 7:54 p.m. and made it to the scene at 8:04 p.m.
“They reported smoke showing from the roof,” said Morales, referring to what had been initially reported. Soon the fire overtook the inside of the home and firefighters made entry from the first floor.
The incident wouldn’t be closed until roughly three hours later, and only after which L.A. County Animal Care and Control was called in to survey the home and find the four animals, Morales said. No other injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
According to Elsee, the family was able to recover “some items” that weren’t burnt, but said the family is still devastated at the loss of most of their home and their pets.
“It’s pretty devastating,” said Elsee. “At least for the property, they’re not so much worried about; what they’re really upset about is the dogs. You can replace the property, but you can’t replace the dogs. They’re pretty upset about that.”
Delgado, who works as a field training deputy at the local station, was described by Elsee as being in good spirits on Friday, having even come into the station the morning after the fire to speak with his coworkers and friends at the office before heading back to his family.
“At the moment we’ve got a GoFundMe going for him, and we’ve given him time off so he can try and get his life and his family in order and figure out what they’re going to do next,” said Elsee. “And then we’re just supporting him in whatever way we can.”
Those wishing to assist Deputy David Delgado and his family may donate to them at their GoFundMe page set up on their behalf by visiting bit.ly/3PzbzMr.