Community aid flows to family after fire

Friends, neighbors and co-workers gather supplies and stump for donations after a fire engulfs a family's home on New Year's Day.

By CHRIS TISCH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 4, 2003

LARGO -- Neighbors and friends are rallying around a Largo family whose home was destroyed by a fire early New Year's morning.

Dennis and Fran Foley and their 10-year-old daughter, Katlyn, were walking home with friends after a New Year's party about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when they saw their house on fire.

Thinking the family might be inside, neighbors were breaking windows and trying to douse the flames with water. Katlyn and her friends started to shriek. Mrs. Foley eventually fainted. She later awoke in an ambulance.

By the time firefighters arrived, flames had gutted almost all of the wood-frame home at 115 Melody Lane. The fire killed the family dogs, Rosie and Daisy.

"They were our family," Mrs. Foley said of the dogs, which were mother and daughter beagles.

The Foleys were able to salvage a few scraps of clothes, a family photo here and there and a few of Katlyn's toys. But everything else is pretty much soot.

"Everything was completely destroyed," Mrs. Foley said Friday.

Neighbors and friends have been busy helping the family. Co-workers at Mrs. Foley's workplace, Reedy Photoprocess, have opened a bank account to accept donations.

"I really feel for her," said co-worker Cheryl Thurston, who lost all her belongings in a fire in 1983. "It's devastating. I know it's devastating."

But Mrs. Foley said the help of friends has made things better.

"It does reinforce your belief in the goodness of people," she said. "It's just amazing. I'm overwhelmed. This neighborhood, these people, they're unbelievable."

After seeing Katlyn's purple bicycle melted in the front yard, a friend went to Wal-Mart and bought her another purple bike. Another gave the family SPCA gift certificates so they could get a new dog.

Dozens of others have donated furniture, clothes or food. Neighbors said people the family doesn't even know have been stopping by, popping their trunks and unloading groceries for them.

"It's really been great," said neighbor Linda Hill. "There's been a tremendous amount of support."

Now, friends say, the family could use some money. Though their house is insured, it does not cover all the contents. Fire officials have not determined a cause, Mrs. Foley said.

Hill, who held the party the Foley's attended on New Year's Eve, said the neighborhood is very close-knit. Mrs. Foley grew up in the house where she lives now, while Hill grew up across the street. Their daughters are best friends.

In fact, Hill's daughter and two nieces were with the Foleys when they were returning home and found the fire.

"The children were so traumatized," she said. "They were screaming. I will never forget those screams. I've never seen anything like it."

The Foleys stayed with Hill the first night but now are cramming into Mrs. Foley's brother's house, which is next door to theirs.

Hill said the Foleys are a giving and friendly family, often helping newcomers to the neighborhood or anyone else in need.

"I told her this was a lesson in tenfold," Hill said. "When you give to other people and put yourself out there, it comes back tenfold. And it's proving itself to her."

Mrs. Foley said her family plans to rebuild on the site of their charred home.

"These are older homes, they're not luxury homes," she said. "But it's the people inside these homes, and that's why we're not leaving."

-- Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

How to help

Donations to the Foley family are being accepted at area Mercantile Banks. Donations can be made to the Nina (Fran's first name) Foley fund, account No. 8600253200.

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