JESSUP -- An effort is underway to help a family in Lackawanna County that lost everything in a fire.
The fire happened early Sunday morning in Jessup.
Donations for the victims started pouring in quickly. Jessup firefighters were still cleaning up and organizers needed a drop off location, so firefighters in Olyphant opened up their doors. It's all to help a family with two young sons.
The Howey family from Jessup watched everything they own burn inside their home on Church Street Sunday morning, but there's a sight giving them hope now as person after person -- many of them strangers -- showed up with items to donate.
"We gave them some clothes and a couple blankets and that's the best we can do for now. I just feel sorry for them, they lost everything," said John Tomko of Jessup.
"You have to," said Bob Rybnick of Blakely. "We've had a pretty mild winter but what a weekend for this to happen; it's frigid! Family with two young boys."
Steve and Shannon Howey and their two boys, ages 4 and 10 months, were forced out into the cold Sunday morning when they woke up to smoke filling their apartment.
The Howey family lived upstairs. They moved in less than two months ago. On the first floor, a hair salon was set to open in just a few days.
State police are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Neither tenant had renters' insurance.
To help the Howeys, Olyphant Hose Company 2 opened its doors to collect donations.
"There were people at the door for me waiting before I even got here, and that's good. It's good to know that the people are out there and they're going to help them," said hose company member Robert Powell.
Steven Howey is a volunteer EMT and firefighter. His fellow firefighters and his community say they have his back.
"The community outreach and the outpouring of support and love amongst residents is overwhelming, very heartwarming, and it definitely makes it a little bit easier to go through what we're going through," said the victim's brother Glenn Howey.
"It's definitely uplifting," added Rybnick. "It's easy to watch TV and think poorly about your fellow man but it's great to be proven wrong."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family.
