GoFundMe Set Up to Support Councilor Avalos in Wake of Fire “Suspicious In Nature” Raises $13,000

A GoFundMe account set up by close friends of Councilor Candace Avalos in the wake of a fire that engulfed her car and damaged her East Portland home early Sunday morning has raised more than $13,000 as of Monday afternoon.

Donations flooded into the account, set up by three of Avalos’ friends, starting Sunday afternoon.

The blaze, which police describe as “suspicious in nature,” erupted in the wee hours of Sunday morning outside of Avalos’ Mill Park home, destroying two cars, a carport and the side of Avalos’ house. She wrote on social media in the hours following that she and her cat, Valentino, had escaped uninjured.

Support for Avalos flooded in from local elected officials and community leaders on Sunday and Monday. Rev. Chuck Currie wrote on social media: “If proven to be politi