May 13--A Fresno family that helped a woman survive a brutal stabbing, then made their own escape from an arson fire last week in central Fresno has wound up homeless.
In the 24 hours after the May 6 stabbing and apartment fire at 315 N. Diana St., the Rivera-Orbison family was dealt a series of calamities of their own: Smoke and fire from the apartment upstairs made their apartment unlivable, so they went to a hotel. While gone, their apartment was burglarized. And now the landlord who had promised to help them find a new place has broken his vow.
So Robert Rivera, his wife, Robin Orbison, and their eight children, ages 6 to 19, have spent the last week wandering from one hotel to the next.
The tragic string of events started when the family heard screams for help coming from outside their apartment.
They opened their door to a horrible sight on the stairwell: A 14-year-old girl crying desperately as she laid her mother, who was critically injured, down on the bottom step.
Orbison quickly took charge, giving each of her family members a task.
"It hurts so bad," the 34-year-old woman whispered to Miranda Rivera, 18, who was told to apply pressure to the wound.
As the family huddled around the bleeding woman, with Robin checking to make sure the woman still had a pulse and a younger child fetching rags to staunch the blood, they watched her 32-year-old boyfriend walk down the stairs and start to leave, calmly passing the scene without even a glance at the woman.
"There was something about his demeanor," Robert Rivera said. "His eyes were all big. He was pale. He looked like a mad man."
The victim's daughter flew toward the departing man, grabbing a hammer that she had used to get into her mother's apartment, screaming at him, "I can't believe you did this to my mother."
Orbison said she grabbed the girl from behind and held her in a hug to help calm her and keep her safe while the man left.
"I felt her pain, but I was afraid something was going to happen to her," Orbison said.
Uncertain as to when an ambulance would arrive, Orbison picked up the injured woman while her husband got the family's Suburban. Her husband then drove them to Community Regional Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said she had no information on the woman's status.
Orbison downplays what her family did to help the woman and her daughter.
"I didn't want to live with knowing the fact that she had to watch her mom get stabbed and die in front of her and nobody helping her," Orbison said.
Police were at the apartment when the family returned home from the hospital, and, after answering questions, they had hoped to put the tragedy behind them.
But unknown to them, the boyfriend had returned to the upstairs apartment, where police believe he set a fire.
Downstairs, Miranda was in her bedroom when she smelled smoke, looked outside and saw the boyfriend sitting outside as thick black smoke wafted around him.
"He was sitting on the steps looking straight at me like if nothing was happening," Miranda said. "He had a crazy look in his eye. I can't forget that look."
She alerted the family but, in her haste to get her family out of their apartment, Miranda reinjured a torn Achilles tendon.
Robert Rivera said the boyfriend started running away when he saw him, so he directed his son, Robert Jr., 19, to give chase. At the same time, Robert Sr., son Andrew, 17, and a neighbor jumped in the family's Suburban and cornered the boyfriend until police arrived.
"I was calling him a coward and asking him why would you burn down an apartment like that, you could of killed us all ... he never said anything, didn't even look at me," Andrew Rivera said.
The family said they were shocked to see people standing around in the midst of all the chaos and not stepping in to help. Despite the danger the family put themselves in twice in one day, they did what they thought was right.
"A lot has happened. We lost all that stuff, I have to have surgery, and we have to wonder where we are going to live," Miranda said.
The owner of the apartment complex had told the family he had a three-bedroom house they could use while getting resettled.
"That was my main worry, because I don't want my kids in a hotel," Robert Rivera said.
But that promise of help in finding new housing has not come through, the family said. The owner could not be reached for comment.
After the fire, the Red Cross provided the family with two nights of shelter, while the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission helped gather clothing. (Robert Jr. is a member of the EOC's Local Conservation Corps, and Miranda attends the School of Unlimited Learning, an EOC program.)
"This family is nothing less than extraordinary," said Mark Wilson, Miranda's principal. "They're a hard-working family, the children all do very well in school and are progressing despite the disadvantages. The kids are really motivated and committed to education."
A collaborative effort within the School of Unlimited Learning has provided the family with temporary housing vouchers, clothing, basic necessities and other forms of assistance.
The Fresno EOC also has started a bank account for donations to help the family get back on its feet.
Perhaps because of their shared hardships, the family said they are more united than ever.
"The one thing keeping us strong is we know everything ... important to us got out of there," Orbison said. "If we would have been asleep, it would have been a different story."
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HOW TO HELP
To help the Rivera family with donations, contact any Fresno-based Citibank branch or call (559) 496-3083. The account number for the Rivera Family is 42007522545.
The reporter can be reached at (559) 441-6659 or [email protected].
Copyright 2013 - The Fresno Bee
