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POMPANO BEACH · On Wednesday, Zulma Rossi was supposed to begin a new chapter of her life: moving into her first house as an owner.
Rossi, who works as a cleaning woman for other families who own their own homes, wanted the same. She was walking away from her Margate rental apartment with her three girls, ages 9, 7 and 4, and plunking down her savings to buy a four-bedroom mobile home in Pompano Beach.
But last weekend, that dream was destroyed.
The mobile home burned down about 10 p.m. Sunday after some youths set off fireworks that might have sparked the blaze, fire officials said.
Rossi said she is trying to figure out what to do. "Everything in the house is destroyed, outside and inside. I wanted a house for me and my kids."
"She was so happy because she put the money down for her new house, it was a new start, and [almost] the day before they were going to move in, it gets burnt out," said Rossi's cousin Erika Cano, of Pompano Beach. "She don't know what to do; she don't know what's coming next."
The mobile home at 3329 NW 16th Ave. was destroyed, said Pompano Beach Battalion Chief Brian Schafer. Damage is estimated at $80,000, with another $50,000 worth of items inside the home charred.
Four youngsters were playing three feet from the house with fireworks that were possibly illegal, Schafer said. "The fire started on the outside of the house, got into eaves, burned through the ceiling and caused extensive damage to the trailer," he said.
Charges are pending the outcome of the investigation, said Hugh Graf, spokesman for the Broward Sheriff's Office.
The American Red Cross helped the family with $850 worth of clothing, said spokesman Tom McFadden.
Rossi, her daughters and her aunt and uncle, who were going to move into the mobile home with her, had been staying with Cano in Pompano Beach awaiting electrical power.
"She had everything, all the furniture, new beds for the girls, all their clothes, all the girls' toys, the computer, documents, everything, everything is destroyed," Cano said.
Now, Rossi waits to see if the insurance she purchased last Friday covers the damage.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2008.
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