NAHANT — The town continues to show how tightly knit it is a community, as residents rally together to raise money for the two survivors of a house fire that occurred last week.
On Thursday, Dec. 23, firefighters put out a house fire on 8 Maple Ave., rescuing the two residents who were trapped in their home.
With help from the Police Department, Fire Department, and specifically firefighters Frank Pappalardo and Matthew Canty, the two residents were carried out of the home to safety.
Colleen O’Neill, a Nahant resident, first heard about the fire via text message asking for prayers for the two residents who were trapped in the home.
“I’m a Christian and most people in my area know that,” she said. “Obviously, we prayed for them, but the next day I found out on the Nahant-residents (Facebook) page that they pulled two people out of the fire. The more we learned about the details, the more that those of us on the Facebook page were devastated for them. They are both elderly — he was in a wheelchair and she was his primary caregiver — and yet she tried to get him out of the house and she was trapped for longer than him. So she’s in worse shape than him,” said O’Neill.
Members of the page came together and decided to create a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the residents.
The fundraiser has raised more than $15,000. O’Neill said it has been amazing to see the community come together.
“Nahant is just a tight-knit community,” she said. “When one person is hurting, we all hurt for them and with them. I think we as neighbors, we need to do whatever we can to support one another.”
People have continued to reach out to O’Neill even though she isn’t directly related to the victims. Individuals have asked if the victims need a place to stay, or have offered to give them clothing.
“It’s just really been amazing to see how caring people in this community are towards their neighbors,” said O’Neill.
If interested in donating, the GoFundMe link is https://gofund.me/8aa07246.
Sam Minton can be reached at [email protected].
