Family trying to recover from fire
By Wendy McCardle, wmccardle@altoonamirror.comArticle Photos
Fact Box
To help
To send monetary donations to the Gray family:
Tom and Peggy Gray
2507 15th Ave.
Altoona, PA 16601
Tom and Peggy Gray and their two younger children are in the midst of sifting through charred remains of their 15th Avenue home of more than 20 years, trying to salvage anything they can, days after a blaze destroyed it.
The family, including an 11-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy, were not injured in Saturday's fire, although they lost several pets.
Son-in-law Greg Wenzel and his wife, Autumn, traveled from their home in North Carolina to help the family.
"That was my wife's childhood home," Wenzel said. "There wasn't very much left in the house for us to get out."
Community support has been overwhelming, with people offering their time, money and donations of needed supplies.
"It's starting to add up already," he said. "A lot of strangers have been e-mailing me like every five minutes. A lot of people we don't even know are helping out. It's amazing."
The family still needs a lot of things, however.
The house they are moving into - a winter home for Peggy's family - needs a lot of work from damage to now-warped floors and broken pipes. They could use plywood and 2-by-4s to make some of the repairs.
"It hasn't been taken care of for two or three years," Wenzel said of the home.
Gift certificates from stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot would help defer the costs of those repairs. Gift cards from stores such as Walmart would help with day-to-day needs, too.
The family has received enough furniture and kids' clothing, Wenzel added, but lost just about everything else, including the children's video game systems, personal papers and all of their food.
Food and canned goods would help out a great deal, Wenzel said.
The family will collect donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday in the gravel parking lot at the Juniata United Methodist Church across from Juniata Elementary School.
The family is strong and will continue to push forward, Wenzel said.
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DRILLMAMMA
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08-26-09 9:13 PM
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I won't come to your place, I probably won't be able to find the trailer park you live in out there in the woods. Oh, its the trailer with the car seats out front for lawn chairs. But, I don't like little boys, like you do. HOMO.
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DRILLMAMMA
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08-26-09 9:07 PM
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OHHHHH, I love it Cresson little boy. I've struck another nerve. YEAH!!!!
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DRILLMAMMA
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08-26-09 8:15 PM
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See what I mean summerbreeze. I knew I could get his attention. I was talking to you and of course the little boy had to be ignorant. Hes such a joke!!But, he can't help himself. Hes hiding behind that computer screen. TRYING to be intelligent. But.....hes just a little boy who hasn't grown up. Insults don't bother me. I love it. Shows his ignorance. He obviously doesn't like women, so he must be gay too.
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DRILLMAMMA
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08-26-09 6:12 PM
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Summerbreeze---Don't waste your breath on that BOY. Hes hiding behind a computer screen. If he were face to face he would most likely say, "Duh". But, you are right, he cares about nothing but himself. The little childish attitude. Remember, its Cressonboy, not cressonman. Definately a boy.
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Summerbreeze
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08-26-09 5:08 PM
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Cressonbaby you are a total idiot. They lost everything in the fire...it's called compassion and helping your fellow man when something tragic has taken everything from them. It's not a welfare case...believe it or not this is what compassionate and caring people do when something tragic like this has struck a family. This family who lost everything do not feel that society owes them. They will go back to work and they will earn their own money. Guess what? You don't have to give or donate a dang thing so just crawl back into your mountain cave and care only about what happens to you.
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Brian1
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08-26-09 8:26 AM
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Didn't they have homeowners insurance to cover the damages?
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TomM73
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08-26-09 8:16 AM
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I know what they are going through as I had a house fire in 2003. They probably won't find to much left in the house that can be used as everything in mine ended up being tossed in the dumpster. Starting over is rough and having family and friends is a very big help and they will get through this I'm sure.
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DRILLMAMMA
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08-26-09 8:12 AM
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Anything recovered from the home will only smell or be water damaged. I'm glad they have somewhere to go. If they had insurance that should help also, but theres nothing like friends, family and the community helping.
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