Community comes together for family who lost everything in fire

EVANS CITY, Pa. — The Evans City family whose trailer home was destroyed by a fire Friday morning is thanking community members for their donations.

The fire, which broke out at Drew and Cindy Pearce’s Pioneer Avenue home about 10:15 a.m. Friday, claimed everything the family owned.

Firefighters reported no injuries, though initially, neighbors feared that Cindy Pearce and a child were trapped inside, because her vehicle was parked outside.

"We all really thought she was in there, and we couldn't get an answer," said Jo Amerson, a postal carrier, who arrived when the fire started.

Amerson heard a dog barking and broke a back door. The dog was not conscious and she performed CPR to revive it.

"Everybody is fine. Unfortunately they lost everything," Evans City Fire Chief Mark Adomaitis said.

The Evans City Fire Department collected donation items Sunday to help the family.

“It’s unbelievable. You can’t even understand what it feels like to know there are good people out there,” Cindy Pearce said.

Pearce added that one of their neighbors gave her son a video game that meant a lot to him.

“Friday night we got a Nintendo Wii from a friend. It meant everything to my son,” Cindy Pearce said.

Cindy Pearce told Channel 11’s Amy Marcinkiewicz that the donations her family has received has touched them.

“Thank you very much for everything you have been doing. It’s a blessing and an unbelievable feeling,” Cindy Pearce said.

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Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.

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