EXETER -- Usually firefighters are dispatched to calls, but Monday night in Luzerne County, flames tore through the home of a volunteer firefighter.
“We usually put fires out for people in our community, this is the first time we had to do it for our own,” said Matt Bartoli of the Exeter Fire Hose Co. #1.
Jen Grochal is a volunteer firefighter and is also one of the six people who lived there. She never thought she'd be going into her own burned home to collect what's left from the fire.
The family has been through a lot at the home. Grochal lost her fiancé after he was struck by a car.
“12 years ago, my fiancé was killed out in front of my house, now I'm going through this,” she said.
Among what was lost in the fire includes her two dogs, which did not make it.
“I don't care. Of all the stuff inside, they're replaceable. My dogs ain't. I'm just glad we got out of the house,” she said.
The family is now staying in a nearby hotel with assistance from the Red Cross. They don't have renter's insurance. But there is a GoFundMe page where people are offering help.
The fire marshal is expected to look for what sparked that fire.