Help for Chuck

Hi, my name is Kristel (Nik). My husband is Chad, and Chuck is my father-in-law. On Saturday, 2/25/2023, Chuck lost his house to a devastating fire. He lived alone but had some cats and kittens as his companions. The only good news from this fire is that he got out with only a few injuries. Chuck is in the hospital and scheduled to be discharged in the next day or two.

Chuck lost not only his companions (which he attempted to save but could not because of the severity of the fire) but everything except the clothes on his back and his truck that was parked in the driveway. Chuck is almost 80 years old and is tasked with starting his life all over. Chuck is a simple man and did not plan for this tragic event. We are starting this GoFundMe to help him get back on his feet. We have gathered clothing and donated items (THANK YOU! to everyone who responded quickly) to get him started, but he has a long way to go due to losing everything! Any donations provided through this fundraiser will help Chuck pay his deductibles for insurance and healthcare and get necessities such as a new key for his truck and a new cell phone, and clothes and boost his morale. We are in the process of finding housing. We are learning as we go.

Below, I have copied the post about the fire from the Phoenixville Facebook Page. Chad and I went to the house, which was devastating and overwhelming. Nothing is left; it is a pile of burnt wood and rubble. You hear about things like this happening to families, but it has never touched me or anyone in my family until now. It is so overwhelming when I think about what the next few months have in store for him. But we will do this together, one day at a time.

Chuck is a wonderful father and grandfather and is a Vietnam War Veteran. He is thankful he is alive but is sad because he lost his house, all his photos, and sentimental items he can never get back possibly some of his companions. If you can assist Chuck in any way, please do. It will mean a lot to him and all our family.

At the very least, we ask you to please pray for him as well as he transitions into a new way of living moving forward.

With love and gratitude!

Phoenixville Fire Department Post

Last night at approximately 6:45PM, the department along with Chester Engine 68-5 and Montco Engine 68-1 were dispatched to the 1400 block of Pawlings Road for a dwelling fire. The initial caller advised the house to be fully involved with the homeowner out of the house.

As initial units were responding Montgomery County 911 began receiving multiple calls related to the fire. With this, the working fire dispatch was transmitted along with numerous tankers from Montgomery and Chester counties.

AC53 arrived to find a 2 story residence with fire showing from all sides. Pawlings Road command was established and companies were put in service on a defensive fire attack due to the advanced nature of the fire. Tower 53 positioned on the Bravo/Charlie corner of the residence via a neighboring property in order to utilize the aerial main for primary fire extinguishment.

Lower Providence has several pockets of the township that are not serviced by water mains, including the Pawlings section. Due to this, numerous tankers were dispatched to assist with shuttling water to the scene from other area water sources. A dump site was set up on scene for the tankers to dump their tanks into portable holding ponds. The water was then pumped to the fire attack apparatus via Engine 68 and Engine 98.

Due to the advanced nature of the fire, the residence became too unstable and portions of the residence collapsed in which made it extremely difficult and dangerous to completely extinguish the fire. An excavator was eventually brought in to assist with final extinguishment.

Members remained on scene for 6 hours performing extinguishment and overhaul of the area. The department was ultimately made available just before 1AM. Thank you to Perkiomen and Limerick Fire Companies for standing by in our station to ensure proper coverage of LP Twp.

One resident was transported to a local hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. No injuries were reported to any responding firefighters.

This fire is currently under investigation by the Lower Providence Twp Fire Marshal’s office and the Regional Fire Investigators Taskforce.

Thank you to all of the mutual aid fire companies for your response and assistance with this incident. Companies on scene included but are not limited too:

Jefferson Fire Company No. 1

Perkiomen Township Fire Company

Worcester Volunteer Fire Department

Trappe Fire Company No. 1

UPT Fire & Emergency Services

Phoenixville Fire Department

Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Co.

Kimberton Fire Company Station 61

Skippack Fire Company

Limerick Fire Department

Lower Providence Township Police

Black Rock Vol Fire Co.

North Penn Goodwill Service