Newly-engaged Bensonhurst couple start GoFundMe after apartment fire

A newly-engaged Brooklyn couple are raising money after a fire destroyed their Bensonhurst apartment the same day they got engaged.

Christina Jones and her new fiancé, David Morales, lost everything in a devastating fire on Jan. 5, Jones wrote in a GoFundMe post she created a few days after the blaze.

Morales popped the question in the couple’s Bay Parkway home at 8:15 a.m., Jones wrote, and she enthusiastically accepted. After they celebrated, Jones and Morales headed out to grocery shop nearby — as they do every Friday morning.

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wreckage of bensonhurst apartment fire — Firefighters were forced to break down the door to gain access to the unit, Jones said. Photo courtesy of Christina Jones/GoFundMe

Less than an hour after the proposal, as they browsed the shelves of the local Stop & Shop, Jones received a call from the building superintendent, telling her there was smoke coming from their third-floor apartment. Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene, and ended up breaking down the door to the two-bedroom apartment to stifle the flames.

Though the fire was eventually brought under control, the apartment — and everything in it – was ruined. The blaze began in the couple’s bedroom, Jones wrote, and quickly spread through the entire unit.

“When we arrived to the scene, there was broken glass, shattered all over the floors and ash and [rubble] everywhere,” Jones wrote. “We literally lost everything we own. All of our clothes, shoes, valuables and sentimental items were are lost in the fire.”

They managed to salvage a few bags of food from the fridge and pantry, but that was all. The Red Cross put the couple up in a hotel for 48 hours and provided them with a $600 pre-paid debit card to help them get back on their feet, but Jones and Morales — who are currently staying with family in Manhattan – need a lot more to recover from the fire.

bensonhurst apartment fire gofundme — The blaze also blew out all of the apartment’s windows and destroyed the couple’s belongings. Photo courtesy of Christina Jones/GoFundMe

The couple are working to raise a total of $10,000 from the community – and have achieved more than half of their goal as of Jan. 10.

“We are kindly asking for any assistance during this unfortunate time,” Jones wrote. “Any and all donations will be VERY appreciated and will be life-saving to us … May God bless and watch over all of you. Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts.”