Home of 6 children burned then looted

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) - An investigation is underway in New Bedford after an apartment that was damaged by fire was looted by burglars.

Jessica Chongarlides' Acushnet Avenue Apartment was damaged by a grill fire during a birthday party Saturday.

"We just heard a hiss," Chongarlides explained. "The grill was on fire and it was catching to the house. Within 20 seconds it was all the way up to the roof."

The apartment was boarded up, but while Chongarlides and her six children were staying with friends, looters broke in.

"What we didn't lose in the fire, we lost to people stealing," she said.

It appears the thieves pushed in the air conditioning unit in a window.

They climbed in, took what they wanted, then climbed out.

A plasma TV, school clothes, a camera and even birthday presents for two of her children were taken.

"I had a plasma on the wall hanging in my kids room.  They unscrewed it from the wall to take the whole bracket," Chongarlides said, as she explained the extent of the burglary.

The Salvation Army, located at 619 Purchase Street in New Bedford, is now collecting donations for the family.

"It took me 13 years to get where I was at," Chongarlides said. "To lose half of it to a fire... the other half to being stolen."