Friends helping family who lost home
BRUIN — When times were tough, Daniel Rowe could always count on his best friend, Bruce Fresh.
That friendship naturally kicked in Monday when a late-afternoon fire destroyed Rowe's home of more than two decades along with all of his family's possessions.
Fresh rushed straight to the scene as soon as he heard about the fire, which displaced Rowe, his two adult daughters and his infant granddaughter, Isabelle.
“I was worried about him,” Fresh said. “They have a young baby and I knew he was at work, so I ran over there and spent the night with him 'til they got things cleaned up.”
Fresh and his son, Justin, immediately began accepting clothing, baby items and anything else the northern Butler County community could donate to the Rowe family.
The Freshes still are accepting items, which can be dropped off on the family's porch at 224 Main St. in Bruin.
Rowe said he knew he would be able to count on Fresh after the fire.
“I just called him and borrowed money,” Rowe said. “He's my best friend.”
Rowe, who raised his two daughters as a single father after his wife died of cancer several years ago, also appreciates his daughter's friend, Erica VanWart, who set up a GoFundMe account and created a shareable Facebook page listing the family's needs.
Rowe said Karns City teachers are setting up a donation fund as well.
“It just goes to show how strong our community is,” Rowe said. “We're all family.”
Rowe was at work at Karns City Area School District, where he is employed as a custodian, when the fire broke out.
“My daughter called me hysterical,” he said.
The family is staying at a Butler hotel, which was paid for through a prepaid credit card donated by the Red Cross.While his daughters were able to rescue the family's cat and two dachshunds from the blaze and firefighters saved a pair of pet snakes, the family's male dog wrenched its back jumping from the car at the hotel on Tuesday morning and had to be put down.“That's some sad news,” Rowe said.He said the destitute family found themselves in Walmart at 3 a.m. Tuesday buying basic essentials such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and formula for Isabelle.The insurance adjuster was scheduled to come to the house Tuesday. Rowe had renter's insurance. He hopes to get a check from the adjuster after the inspection.The family's primary concern in the initial hours after the fire was caring for the immediate needs of Isabelle. “The baby is really taken care of,” he said. “Right now, we're worrying about her.”A call to the county Housing and Redevelopment Authority bumped the family to the top of the list for a rental since they are displaced, Rowe said.On Tuesday, they planned to look at a three-bedroom house to rent in the Institute Hill area of Butler.“When you go from a full three-and-a-half bedroom house to a three-bedroom house with nothing ... we have to get beds and sheets and pots and pans and everything,” Rowe said. “Right now, I only have the clothes on my back.”While the aftermath of the fire will be stressful, Rowe knows he is lucky.“I just thank God everyone got out safe,” he said.Donations can be mailed to the family at P.O. Box 2, Bruin, PA 16022.
