Last Sunday, in early hours of the morning, a devastating house fire left one Bellwood-Antis family with nothing.
The fire occurred on South First and Martin Street at the home of Ryan and Lisa Hostler. By the time fire fighters from the Excelsior Company brought the blaze under control, the residence was completely gutted.
Bellwood-Antis students Ella and Emma Fieni lost everything, including three cats, who died in the fire.
To help support their family through these rough times, there is a Spaghetti Dinner being held on next Sunday, March 16 from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. Donations for the family, such as soda, water, and basket donations, will be accepted during the dinner.
One of their neighbors, Katie Grager, is giving students and opportunity to earn community service hours by helping set up for the Spaghetti Dinner to support to Fieni household
Contact Katie at (814) 381-4771 for more details.
Jacob Shade, a 2015 B-A graduate, is the brother of the Fieni sisters. In a heartfelt Facebook post this week, he said he is just happy that his family was able to make it out of the fire alive. He also detailed the harrowing experience his sisters went through.
Around 2 a.m., he said, Emma woke up to her room being filled with smoke. Instead of panicking, she immediately ran to wake up her siblings. They managed to get themselves and their two dogs out of the house safely. Unfortunately, their three cats didn’t make it.
Meanwhile, their mother and her fiancé were both working night shift and later on came back to their house being completely destroyed.
“Some would see this as a tragedy, and it definitely is heartbreaking, but I think it is truly a miracle that my favorite people are still here with us.” he said.
