DETROIT – A Detroit father and his two teenage sons are trying to rebuild after a house fire destroyed the home they’d lived in for nearly 15 years.
Ronald Antczak has been raising his sons, 14-year-old Ronald Jr. and 13-year-old Ryan, on his own since their mother died three years ago.
The family had previously rented their home on Nottingham Road on Detroit’s east side before Antczak managed to purchase the home.
They’ve now been displaced after a devastating house fire that happened the evening of July 23.
Antczak told Local 4 the fire was started by a child who had come over to the house.
He said it was started on the front porch and quickly engulfed the entire front of the home.
He said flames quickly blocked the front door, forcing him to pull his older son out through a window.
“I carried him across the street, where we then just watched the house burn and waited on the fire department,” Antczak said.
The Detroit Fire Department confirmed the Detroit Fire Investigation Division determined the fire was set by a youth who does not live in the home. The department added that its Youth Fire Setter Program team is working with the youth and their family “to ensure they get the help they need.”
Antczak said he and his sons are living in a motel with assistance from the American Red Cross and are trying to find stable housing before school begins.
“School’s getting ready to start and my main concern is getting us in another home, having a stable roof over our head, and getting them enrolled in school on time,” he said.
Antczak’s family has been a longtime participant of the non-profit Brilliant Detroit, which transforms underutilized neighborhood houses into community hubs.
The organization created a GoFundMe to support the family.
Donations can be made here.