Solar battery fire in Banning leaves family with nothing
Daniella Lake
BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A structure fire in Banning on Monday left a family with nothing.
“No trash cans, no nothing. We were devastated,” says Urimare Jimenez Libertad. She says her family heard a large “boom” sound, and then next thing they knew, the two story building where her daughter and grandson lived went up in flames.
In addition to the 1,600 sq. ft. two-story building, the fire also damaged multiple cars and a trailer. CAL FIRE says that the cause for the fire is still under investigation, but the family believes their solar batteries started the fire.
They also lost their dog rescue, along with Scott Wasko’s entire plumbing livelihood in the fire.
“All my tools that I’ve been collecting for 20 years completely burned to the ground. So now I know I have no more ability to be able to go out and make a few dollars,” Wasko says.
The family has started a GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/279799c51