Community reaches out to local family after fire

When a Pleasant Gap family lost their home to a fire, they found their community stepping up in a big way.

On Monday afternoon, fire companies responded to a call at 133 Whitman Circle, finding flames to the rear of the structure, according to the Pleasant Gap Fire Company. The house was empty, but crews were forced to expose the attic area and interior walls to finally extinguish the blaze.

While crews were working on the home, resident Mike Wenrick got a call at his office from 911 dispatchers alerting him to the fire, fiancee Angela Osborn said. Wenrick immediately called her, she said.

Unfortunately, by the time it was over, five companies had responded and the home was gone. The first floor suffered “significant” fire and heat damage, Pleasant Gap Fire Company Chief Lou Brungard said, while the second floor saw considerable smoke damage.

The State College fire marshal is investigating the cause, he said.

The family had lost everything, Osborn said. She, Wenrick and their children, Clayton, 17, Emma, 14, Legacy, 13, Lukus, 11, and Makenna, 7, have been taken in by friends and family for now.

Tragically, the family lost many personal and irreplaceable things, she said — the urn containing Wenrick’s mother’s remains; the family dog, Morgan, who was buried in the backyard with the help of the fire company; and memories of Osborn’s first child who passed away at 17 months.

Wenrick lived in the house for 39 years, she said, and the family is not giving up their home. They are going to rebuild.

While she said she hopes insurance covers it, Osborn’s sister, Roxanne Williams, set up a GoFundMe page Monday, reaching out to anyone who can help.

“I want to help them in any way to make this at least financially easier for them,” she said on the page. “This will mean the world to them to have any kind of help possible.”

By 9 p.m. Monday, more than 60 people raised more than $2,700 of the $50,000 goal.

“It’s great to have such a close-knit community,” Osborn said. “Pleasant Gap is pretty awesome.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Community reaches out to local family after fire."