BUFORD, Ga. — Four children are now without parents after they lost their mother in a fire last week, and now their father to COVID.
Febe Santos tragically died in a fire last Wednesday. The 41-year-old was quarantining in the basement when flames erupted in their Buford home, causing the floor to collapse.
At the time of the fire, her husband Humberto Giron was in the hospital battling COVID for two weeks. He died on Wednesday, according to a GoFundMe started to help the family.
11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross shared an update about the family on Facebook, stating the kids — between the ages of 7 to 17 — escaped the fire, but they are now without both of their parents.
Family previously told 11Alive the children temporarily moved in with him. He has four kids of his own.
"Right now, they’re in shock," Santos' cousin, Joel Banos, said at the time. "I don’t think they can simulate what happened, they’re still processing everything. She was just a great woman, a loving mother of four kids and a dedicated wife to her husband. She was a stay-at-home mom watching her kids all the time.”
In a release, fire crews said that "flames" were "blowing out of the windows at the rear." The GoFundMe page says the family lost nearly everything in the fire.
"To prevent significant injuries or loss of life to personnel, firefighters had to cease rescue efforts and focus exclusively on extinguishing the flames. Due to the construction of the home, heat remained trapped inside creating the potential for reignition. Firefighters gained access to the roof and used a chainsaw to cut open ventilation holes to release that heat," the release said.
At the time, officials said they were still working to determine if the fire, smoke inhalation, or something else killed the woman. Firefighters said they couldn't rule out multiple power sources as a cause for the fire as it did begin in the basement.
A GoFundMe has been started to help the family. The North Gwinnett Co-op is also accepting donations.
"Please continue to pray for these children and wrap them in your love and understanding," an update on the fundraiser page said.