DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. - It was a house fire in the 24000 block of Stanford in Dearborn Heights last Sunday that brought heartbreak to the Acosta family.
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Dearborn Heights fatal house fire causes family to lose everything
Dearborn Heights fatal house fire causes family to lose everything
"He really loved my family and he really wanted to help other people," said Carlos Acosta.
Carlos said his 20-year-old brother, Christian, died from injuries he got in the fire.
Christian struggled with mental illness for the last few months and his family desperately tried to help, Carlos said.
Carlos said Christian set his room on fire in a suicide attempt and the flames quickly spread.
"It wasn't like a big spread of flames," Carlos said. "It was more like a bomb. My dad said there was a whole bunch of gasoline, it felt like a shockwave."
Everyone got out, except for Christian and the family cats. Now the Acosta is not only grieving his loss, they're also trying to pick up the pieces after losing nearly everything.
"There's no way we can let them quietly suffer like this," said family friend Nadia Nasir. "It's really important to be there for them because you never know when it could be you. You never know when it could be your loved one."
Nadir is one of Carols' high school classmates. She organized a donation drive that quickly took off. Now she goes from home to home picking up things for the Acosta family. There's also an upcoming event where participants can drip off donations and leave with boxes of fresh food.
"Each person can donate one thing and it's crazy how big of an impact it can make," Nadia said. "We have one person donating clothes and another donating dishes. It's not a lot, but it's adding up.
Now that the Acosta family is incredibly grateful for the community, they also plan to eventually raise awareness to mental illness in honor of Christian.
"It's a problem," said Nick Acosta, Christian's brother. "It has to be addressed once my family is situated, I plan to get with some of these organizations and our leaders to see what we can do so this doesn't happen to anybody else's family."