Ojai Community Comes Together To Help Family that Lost Everything in Fire

An Ojai family is trying to figure out what to do next after losing everything they own in a fire.

“Everything that I had accumulated in my entire life was just gone,” said Kelsie Prock.

The fire started in the bedroom Kelsie Prock shared with her 13-month old daughter. Firefighters have yet to release an exact cause, but the family says it was an electrical fire that started in the wall of the 1930s Ojai Valley home.

“My bedroom was just completely, basically, gone, so all of my stuff and all of my daughters stuff,” said Prock

No one was home Wednesday afternoon when smoke started pouring out of the Ojai Valley home. A construction worker across the street was the first to notice the blaze. He alerted the Prock’s nextdoor neighbor, who then went inside the home to check out what was going on.

“I just went ahead and went in there. The house was filled with smoke. I didn’t see anyone. It was really dark in there, and I saw the dogs, and I just got the dogs out,” said Christopher Fincher.

“Thank God, everyone was OK. Thank God, everyone was out of the house. Things can be replaced, People can’t,” said Prock.

While the five family members who lived in this home may now be homeless, they say they are overwhelmed with joy from the love and support they have received from the Ojai community.

“Everybody that I run into is like, what can I do? Can I help? A GoFundMe site was put up, and people have donated so much money already. We are so grateful. It brought me to tears yesterday and today. I just can’t believe it. I am so grateful,” said Prock.

To help this Ojai family get back on their feet, there will be a horseshoe tournament taking place Saturday at 11 a.m. at Soule Park. The entry fee is $10, and all proceeds will go to the Prock family.

You can also donate to the Prock GoFundMe account at this link.