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Delco family loses everything in house fire days before Christmas
A Delaware County family is trying to pick up the pieces with the help of their community after they lost everything in a house fire days before Christmas.
NETHER PROVIDENCE TWP., Pa. - The Delaware County community is coming together for a family that lost everything in a house fire just days before Christmas.
Jaclyn Bowen, her husband Edward Conroy are both local paramedics but say nothing could prepare them for the phone call they got while in Dutch Wonderland with their family on Friday night.
"My neighbor texted and asked if we had our fireplace going because there was a lot of smoke coming from the chimney-- we don’t have a fireplace," said Bowen. "We’ve been to plenty of fires, so I’ve never obviously been on this end of it."
The Garden Fire Company says they got the call around 9:00 p.m. in Nether Providence Township and arrived to heavy smoke coming out of the home. They were able to tackle the bulk of the fire in the basement and place it under control about 40 minutes later.
Bowen and Conroy share seven children between 23-years-old and just two-years-old.
"The basement was two of the kids’ bedrooms, a bathroom, and all of the kids’ toys," said Bowen. "You hear of those things happening, but you never think it’s going to happen to you."
The family still has not been able to get back inside the home to see what, if anything, they can salvage.
As they prepare to spend Christmas in a hotel, the family says their neighbors, who first alerted them to the fire, already gathered a collection of clothes and presents for them. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District also started a collection, and family member started this GoFundMe.
As they try to keep things as normal as possible for the kids, they say they still feel lucky.
"Just grateful that we’re all OK," said Bowen.