Friends Raise Money To Send Man Killed In Mission District Fire Home To El Salvador
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) -- Family and friends of a fire victim are struggling to raise enough money for a funeral in his home country of El Salvador.
On Wednesday, he was killed in an apartment fire in San Francisco's Mission District.
Lester Lopez knew Mauricio Orellana ever since they grew up together in El Salvador. They both moved to the Bay Area as adults.
"He was one of my best friends," Lopez said.
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Last week, Lopez was was the one who had to break the news to Orellana's family.
"Their family, they told me, 'Are you kidding me?'" he said.
Lopez said Orellana was sleeping upstairs when his apartment building caught fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez said his longtime friend constantly took care of others through outreach at this local church.
"He was a friendly guy," Lopez said. "He always helped people and he worked for his family in his country."
Orellana worked as a mover and would send money back to El Salvador to take care of his sister and nephews.
Now Lopez is raising $6,500 to send Orellana's body back to their home country for a funeral to give his family closure.
So far friends have raised about a thousand dollars for that through a GoFundMe account.
