Recovery After House Fire

I am telling you this story on behalf of my good friend of 25 years, Marcie Amodeo. This story is about Marcie's mom, Janet Pigden, and the recent loss she went through after a house fire at 1730 Rednersville Rd.

On the evening of July 31st, Janet was awoken by the sound of smoke alarms going off and soon realized her entire apartment was full of black smoke.  With only moments to comprehend what was happening, her instincts kicked in and allowed her to safely make it out with just the clothes on her back. After making it out she went back to the door and called for her beloved pets, 2 dogs and 6 cats. One of the dogs, Bella, came running out and later Leroy the cat made an appearance, although with some injuries, which he should recover from. Unfortunately, the remaining pets did not make it out and perished in the fire. She has had to say goodbye to her dog, Cyrus, and the rest of her cat family, which included Jett, Ebony, Cleopatra, Delilah, and Moxie. This is devastating for Janet, as she has a big heart when it comes to animals. Both of her dogs were adopted through the Quinte Humane Society through the elders for elders program, which allowed the dogs to spend their golden years in a loving home. Many of her cats were also rescues, with her most recent being a cat named Crash (renamed Cleopatra), which came from the Rossmore Animal Hospital after being hit by a vehicle. She gave all of her pets a wonderful life and she is completely heartbroken with the loss. We can only hope that she finds comfort in caring for the survivors, Bella and Leroy. Her time at the apartment was brief, as she had only just moved there over the weekend of July 29th & 30th, and was still in the process of unpacking her belongings and setting up her home. This was a positive move for Janet and was almost like a fresh start. After being a live-in caregiver to her mom for years, Janet recently had to make the decision to move her mom to a retirement facility for further care, due to her progressing Alzheimer's. This was not an easy decision for Janet, but a necessary one, in order to ensure her mom was in the most capable hands.  This lead to Janet's move to the apartment on the Bay of Quinte, a new start for her and her family of pets. She had scheduled some time off work for the week after the move to run errands and arrange for all the necessary changes that come along with moving, including tenants insurance for her new apartment. But, tragedy struck before this could be put in place, and with that, Janet lost everything she owned.  The thing to be most grateful for is her life, but it is a life that has to be rebuilt completely.  She has the support of her 3 children, her friends and her coworkers, and they will help her through this overwhelming time in her life. Janet's daughter and her husband have welcomed Janet into their home to provide a safe, and comfortable place for her to recover and allow her to make the plans for her future. The Red Cross is a great organization and has provided Janet with some support of the initial necessities, but she has a long road ahead of her. So at this time, we are reaching out to our community and asking for your kindness and generosity in helping Janet to get back on her feet and to rebuild her life. Also, a huge thank you goes out to the firefighters who attended the scene, and to the emergency vet in Rossmore who took good care of Leroy and ensured his recovery. We cannot thank you enough for reading Janet's story and we would be most grateful of anything you can contribute. Many thanks!