‘Nothing but sadness.’ Centre Hall family looks to rebuild their lives after fire destroys home
A Centre Hall couple and the three children they’re raising are working to rebuild their lives after a Sunday fire destroyed their home, killed their two cats and ruined nearly all of their possessions.
Ultrasound photos, crafts from past Mother’s Days and Father’s Days and drawings from the kids are just some of the mementos that Halie Stroud, 18, and Steven Alterio, 34, lost in the fire.
They were also left without clothes, shoes, furniture, appliances, cookware, bedding, Social Security cards and more. The couple and the children, Stroud said, are “left with nothing.”
“It’s just nothing but sadness,” Stroud said Monday. “(We) walked through our house yesterday the last time that we could, trying to remember how our home looked looked like before that because now our home just looks like black soot and our ceiling is on our living room floor.”
The fire began about 6:40 a.m. Sunday on the second floor of the two-story home along the 100 block of East Potter Street, Centre Hall Volunteer Fire Company Chief Brian Tice said.
The family, Stroud said, was alerted of the fire by a neighbor who saw the flames. Stroud, Alterio, a 1-year-old and their two dogs escaped unharmed. The two other children, a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old, were not home at the time.
Some of the about 30 volunteer firefighters that responded attempted to extinguish the fire by entering the second floor, but had to evacuate once the roof started to collapse. None were injured, Tice said.
The fire was controlled by about 9 a.m.; firefighters left the home about two hours later. The cause of the blaze is being investigated by a fire marshal.
Firefighters from the Boalsburg, Miles Township, Gregg Township, Undine, Pleasant Gap and Millheim fire departments assisted. Penns Valley EMS also responded. Nearby residents brought first responders food and water.
Alterio lived in the house for a decade, while Stroud lived there for about a year. They did not have renters insurance, she said.
The family spent Sunday night with Stroud’s aunt, Angela. Their plan is to continue staying with family members until they’re able to find a suitable place — some are too small for the five of them and their dogs, while other places aren’t available until the winter.
Family members organized two pages on the fundraising website GoFundMe. More than two dozen people donated more than $2,000 as of Monday afternoon.
Angela Stroud posted on Facebook a list of more than a dozen items the family needs, saying they “need literally everything.”
“Everything that is important in life pretty much just burnt up in front of them. They’re still in shock. It’s one that’s going to take them a few days to even let it all sink in,” she said. “... It’s a really long road for them.”