Homeowner describes how his family escaped burning home that left 3 dead
DES MOINES, Iowa – Early on Wednesday morning tragedy struck the Easter Lake neighborhood as a family woke up to flames engulfing their entire house.
'So when he was going up, he woke up the mother who died. He woke her up first,' said Espy Vyizigiro, the daughter of the homeowner, Yotamu. Yotamu's daughter Espy translated for her father when interviewed by WHO 13 News.
The fire was described to have started right after 3 a.m. by the Des Moines Fire Department, but the family was not aware of the flames until right before 4 a.m., leaving little time to react. One of the family members was downstairs in a wheelchair when he realized that the house was burning. The individual crawled up the stairs in order to warn the family.
'So, he was also going up the stairs coming to wake us up along with my mother who also came out with him,' said Espy. 'And we don't know how my mother went back. We don't know what she went to look for. She went back without us having noticed and that's how she died.'
Greenfield marks 1 year anniversary of deadly EF 4 tornado
The three victims were Ndayirorere Yuliana, 72, Yotamu's wife and Espy's mother; Shannnella Nshimillimana, 18, Yotamu's daughter-in-law who was pregnant, and his niece Angela Peniel, who was 3-years-old. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family, as they were not able to get anything out of the burning home and are staying with other family members and friends.
The family was helped by neighbors and congregation members of the Holy Spirit Unity Church in Des Moines. Yotamu is a pastor there, and explained how his extended family, neighbors and congregation showed up to help them while the house was still burning.
Yotamu has not had time to process the loss, describing himself as depressed in the wake of losing his wife, a pregnant daughter-in-law and his 3-year-old niece.Neighbors helped in the rescue efforts, providing blankets for the escaped victims and water for first responders. One neighbor described the horror he woke up to.
'When you visibly see people being brought out of the house and, you know, obviously they're you know, they're in body bags and you can't see them, but, you know. And it, it just, it goes to you. So, you just have to pray and, you know, just hope for the family,' said Dan Claman, a neighbor who lives right across the street.
The Des Moines Police Department is working through the investigation, but looks to be able to rule out foul play. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
'It looks to be that it burned really quickly and it looks like there was a handmade structure out back that may have been part of that. That's that initial fire. So, those are where they're focusing their efforts right now. They're just going to follow the evidence where they take them,' said Sergeant Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department.
The one other family member who was taken to the hospital was described as being in 'stable' condition by Sergeant Parizek.
Metro News:
Homeowner describes how his family escaped burning home that left 3 dead
Iowa man accused of fatally neglecting dog and 'dumping' its body to hide crime
Names of victims in deadly Des Moines house fire released
3 dead, in south side Des Moines house fire early Wednesday
Unexpected pub in Des Moines brings guests of all ages together
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
'Garden of Love' making a comeback after city's removal
Slowly but surely the garden in front of the house on Ontario Avenue in Niagara Falls is beginning to grow again. The occupants of the house — Kenneth Johnson, Justine Burger and their three children, ages 2, 4 and 15 — are now looking forward to full bloom, the time when their flowers blossom and their raspberries, corn, green beans, zucchini, bell papers, cherry and Roma tomatoes ripen to the point where they are ready to be picked. They've added a few new touches this year. Four raised garden beds were donated by the Niagara Beautification Commission. Multi-colored lights to brighten up the space at night. A wooden 'welcome' sign, donated by a friend of Burger's grandmother. Burger said she's also working on a special touch of her own, a sign that will describe the space for what it is today — a 'Garden of Love.' It's intended as a nod to the outpouring of support Johnson and Burger's household received after city workers, acting on April 21 in response to Clean Neighborhood violations, removed all remnants of the garden they grew and tended in the front yard last year. 'We're getting there,' Burger said. 'We are.' Following media reports from multiple local news outlets, including the Niagara Gazette, hundreds of people from across the city and around the region, and even a couple from other parts of the country, reached out to offer their support. Some of those same people donated money to a GoFundMe account established to help Johnson and Burger cover the fines the city charged them for the cleanup. Thanks to their generosity, the couple managed to raise the full $2,296 to pay the bill, which they said they intend to do soon. 'The community and our neighbors have been outstanding,' Burger said. 'I'm so thankful to everybody who donated money for us and for even just the words of encouragement,' she added. 'The money isn't even that big of a deal. We're working people so we would have figured it out. But just receiving words of encouragement from people we have never met in our lives, that we cannot appreciate enough.' Mayor Robert Restaino's administration, in a nine-page press release, defended the city's actions, saying they came in response to complaints about the condition of the property and that the DPW documented multiple violations of the clean neighborhood ordinance on site. The ordinance allows the city to penalize residents and property owners for failing to address various violating conditions, which can include yard waste, overgrown grass and unregistered vehicles stored on the property. In its release, the mayor's administration said that following a review it concluded that the DPW handled the matter appropriately and within enforcement actions covered under the ordinance. The administration also insisted that, at the time of the DPW crew's visit, the couple's front yard looked more like a neglected lawn full of logs and bricks than a well-tended garden. During the cleanup, crew members removed logs, painted bricks and cinder blocks from the property, including those planted into the ground along the public right-of-way, the space between the sidewalk and the street. City officials said the items posed tripping hazards and, therefore, warranted removal. In addition, during their visit to the house, city workers removed several items from the side of the house and the backyard, including a refrigerator with a door on it that city officials said posed a potential hazard to children. Burger and Johnson are confining their new garden to the area between their front porch and the sidewalk, heeding the city's advice to keep the right-of-way free from logs, bricks and plantings. The couple said Mother Nature is proving less cooperative and sunflowers planted near the street edge are growing again. 'I honestly don't know what to do with it because everything is coming back up. There's sunflowers that are straight-growing. I can't stop that,' Johnson said. Neither Mayor Restaino nor City Council Chairman Jim Perry have contacted the couple in the weeks since their story went viral. They did receive personal visits and help in fixing up the property in front of the house from several other local political figures, including Falls Councilman Donta Myles, council candidate Noah Munoz and two candidates for Niagara County Legislature, Donte Richardson and Sean Mapp. Johnson and Burger say they're trying to get past the politics of the situation and are instead focusing on making sure their garden looks good this year. 'I'm just happy that we were able to bounce back,' Johnson said. 'That's what I'm happy about.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Teen Goes Viral Helping Burger King Coworkers After Graduating. Then Strangers Raised $200K to Send Him to College
Mykale Baker voluntarily, and spontaneously, helped his Burger King coworkers right after attending his high school graduation ceremony last month Customer Maria Mendoza, who noticed Baker was still wearing his graduation medals, captured the moment, which ended up going viral on TikTok. Then, she set up a college tuition fundraiser that has raised over $200,000 so far When the teen found out about everything he was shocked — but tells PEOPLE he also feels beyond blessedAn 18-year-old high school graduate in Georgia can now afford to go to college after his act of generosity on graduation night led to a viral TikTok. 'I just feel amazing,' Mykale Baker, who lives in Gwinnett County, tells PEOPLE. 'Blessed, honestly.' Mykale was one of about 700 students who graduated from Mills Creek High School last month. There, he received his diploma and two medals, one for band and the other for track. Afterwards, Mykale went to his local Burger King, where he works as a crew member, to pick up food for his family. Although he wasn't scheduled to work that night, he ended up helping out his busy coworkers behind the counter. 'Honestly, I walked in there and I just saw it was so busy,' he recalls. 'I was like, 'I'm not doing anything when I get home, so I might as well just help you out, give out a helping hand.' " The teen took off his cap and gown, but still wore his graduation medals around his neck, which caught the eye of a customer whose daughter went to the same school and also graduated that day. Maria Mendoza, 45, and her family — including the graduate, daughter Daizie — stopped in at the Burger King that night because Mendoza had a hankering for a Whopper. When she caught sight of Mykale through the drive-through window, she froze. "I told my husband, 'Look at him. He is working. Oh my God. He has his medals,' " she says. Moved by seeing Mykale fresh out of his graduation to prepare the customers' orders, Mendoza took out her cellphone and recorded him for several seconds before stopping when he turned around. 'I dropped the phone," says Mendoza, "and my daughter, who was in the backseat, was like, 'Mom, what are you doing? You're so weird.' " The next evening, Mendoza shared the clip of Mykale on TikTok and then went to sleep. 'When I woke up, I was just blown away,' she says. As of Friday, June 6, the TikTok has generated over 4.4 million views. It was her daughter Jazmine who suggested setting up an online fundraiser on Mykale's behalf. 'So I decided to put a GoFundMe to pay for his college tuition,' she says. (As of Friday, June 6, that GoFundMe has raised over $200,000.) Mendoza later stopped at the Burger King and asked for Mykale's contact information from his coworkers so she could tell him the news. They declined to give it to her, so she left them her phone number to pass it on to him. Twenty hours passed and Mendoza had not heard from Mykale. With the donations to the GoFundMe continuing to pour in, Mendoza went back to the Burger King to speak with Mykale's manager. The manager then called Mykale and told him to come to the restaurant. ''I need you to come right now. This is life changing. Please, I beg you. Come right now,' ' the manager said, according to Mendoza. Fifteen minutes later, Mykale and his mother entered the Burger King and Mendoza told them what happened. Upon hearing the news, an emotional Mykale hugged his mother and Mendoza. 'Honestly, when she told me about the video, I was surprised,' Mykale says. 'But when she showed me the GoFundMe, I was like, 'Wow. I might go to college now.' ' Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Mykale says that he was originally planning to take a gap year or join the Army so he could pay for college. Now with the money raised for him, he has set his sights on Gwinnett Technical College. And that's not the end of his good fortune: after hearing about Mykale's story, Burger King and the Burger King Foundation awarded Mykale with a $10,000 scholarship. They also offered Mendoza's daughter Daizie with $10,000 scholarship as well. 'This story is about more than a viral moment. It's a testament to hard work, generosity, and the incredible ripple effect of doing the right thing," Burger King tells PEOPLE in a statement. Mendoza feels proud to be able to help Mykale achieve his dream. 'It brings me so much joy,' she adds. 'I'm smiling and laughing because I'm overjoyed of what's going on with Mykale. Now he's part of my life, and I'm part of his life, and his mom said we're family. I've gained a new family. I just feel so blessed." Meanwhile, Mykale is still working at the Burger King, but now he's a manager — and his life has changed because of the viral moment. 'I'm very grateful that she actually did this,' he says of Mendoza. 'It opened eyes up for me to see that now that she did this for me, that I return this favor and pay it forward to somebody else.' Read the original article on People
CNN
3 days ago
- CNN
‘Changed my life': Woman raises money for high school senior who worked Burger King shift the day of graduation
High school senior Mykale Baker went to his high school graduation, and after, decided to get some food for his family at Burger King, which is where he works. After seeing how short staffed they were, he decided to help out the team. Maria Mendoza saw him at work and started a GoFundMe page for him, which has raised almost $200 thousand dollars towards his college fund.
