Zaire Calvin GoFundMe raises over $26,000 as community rallies around Eaton fire victim after sister's death

Zaire Calvin, a California man who saved his wife, baby, and elderly mother, lost his sister to the Eaton Fire. The two lived next door to each other, and he assumed she would make it out, too, but she didn't.

In the wake of her passing, Calvin has since initiated a fundraising campaign to ease the financial strains of caring for his mother and one-year-old baby. Speaking to CBS News moments after he was found rummaging through the rubble and debris, he expressed his grievances, noting:

"This is unreal. Oh my god. My house." He went on, adding that he "wonder if anything's left. The-- the rocking chair for the baby. (crying) I literally just built all of this."

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All we know about Zaire Calvin, a high school coach who lost his sister and home to the flames

Per CBS News, Zaire Calvin is a high school football coach who spent his entire life on the same block. He said he's been privy to many a wildfire, though none of them were as destructive as the most recent one. He has one son and one daughter. Reflecting on his losses, he told the outlet:

"My mom just said it to me. She's like, everything's gone? You mean the books that we have, like, nothing? I'm just like, Mom, it's all gone. All of it. Every memory, all those things are gone. We have whatever's left in our heads to rebuild with. All of it's gone."

Zaire Calvin's son, Jamire Calvin, also weighed in:

"I'm lucky to even have the little bag of clothes that I have left. But as far as trophies, memories, diplomas, everything else just went up in flames."

As for their GoFundMe page, it states that:

"Zaire Calvin had spent his life building a safe haven for his family , balancing the care of his elderly mother with the joy of raising his one-year-old daughter."

However, over the course of one night, the fire broke out and decimated "both homes before anyone could act. Flames consumed not just the roofs over their heads but the memories and dreams within."

Read a part of the GoFundMe page below:

"Standing in the ashes the next morning, holding his baby tightly and watching his mother cry, Zaire felt the crushing weight of losing everything he had worked so hard to protect."

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The page has set a goal of $45,000, and at the time of writing, over $26,000 has been raised, and donations have come from over 187 people.