Family gets help after fire
BUFFALO TWP — Family, friends and neighbors are assisting Gabriel and Sarah Pawlowski, whose house was destroyed by a fire Tuesday morning.
The fire started about 7 a.m. in the garage, but eventually spread to the house at 403 Sarver Road.
Flames blocked the nearest escape door, so the family escaped through windows, with Sarah passing 3-year-old daughter Izzi and 9-month-old son Elijah out the window to Gabriel.
Jerry Pawlowski, Gabriel's father, said the family likely will stay with him in South Buffalo Township until they get back on their feet. He also said the American Red Cross has offered to help.
On Tuesday morning and afternoon, several friends and neighbors were helping the family salvage items from the house, and neighbors offered to store items in their basements.
“It's touching,” Jerry Pawlowski said. “Restores your faith in people.”
The fire destroyed a car and a motorcycle. Gabriel lost one of his guitars, but he was able to save another, which he plays in church.
Volunteer firefighters from six departments fought the fire. Officials said a faulty extension cord, which was attached to a heat lamp used to help raise chickens in the garage, may have started the fire.
The house is insured.
The Pawlowskis have lived there for about one year. Gabriel's grandparents, Ed and Mary Rhodes, used to live in the house, but Mary Rhodes died last year.
Jim Ritchie, pastor of the Center United Methodist Church in Natrona Heights, heard about the fire and went to the house about 8:30 a.m.
The Pawlowskis are longtime members at the church, and Gabriel plays guitar in the church's praise band.
Ritchie assisted the family in getting salvageable items out of the house. He said that they were able to get, among other things, some family antiques as well as a hollowed-out book filled with money out of the wreckage.
Ritchie said the church soon will take donations, but he said it does not want to take anything until it knows exactly what the family needs.
For information, call the church at 724-226-2300. Ritchie said the church also will provide updates on what to donate at www.centerumc.com and www.facebook.com/CenterUMChurch.
“Our church and neighbors have really come through,” Gabriel Pawlowski said.
