Around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Company responded to a reported residential fire on Sandyhook Road. First-arriving units reported heavy fire showing from the two-story residence. It was quickly upgraded to a two-alarm fire with companies from Showell, Berlin, Bishopville, Ocean City, Newark and Willards in Maryland, and several Sussex County departments assisting the first-responding Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Company.

The house was occupied by four residents at the time of the fire and each was able to escape uninjured. A fifth tenant was not at home at the time of the fire. The occupants were alerted to the fire by a smoke alarm, however, the house was not equipped with a residential fire sprinkler.

The residence was leased to the five tenants. While all escaped unharmed, the house was completely destroyed and the occupants lost all of their belongings except the clothes on their backs at the time of the blaze. To that end, the always generous local community was already rallying for the displaced tenants by early Thursday morning.

A Go Fund Me page was set up early Thursday morning and the donations started pouring in. The Go Fund Me page lists the victims as Katie Wolfe, Tyler Eldridge, Nicolas Staub and Sam Thompson.

“It’s very lucky these kids are alive, but they lost everything in this fire except the clothes they slept in,” the Go Fund Me page reads. “They need to replace their personal effects, buy clothes, computers and books and get their lives back on track. They are all great kids and your help will be greatly appreciated.”

A similar effort is underway via Facebook by a local resident who is collecting gift cards for the victims to replace everything they lost in the fire. Local resident Kathy Jacobs is organizing the effort to collect gift cards from Wal-Mart and other stores, or even Visa or Master Card gift cards that the victims can use to begin replacing everything they lost. The gift cards can be dropped off at the Ocean Pines Sports Core Pool or the Brandywine Senior Living community on Route 54 across from the Harris Teeter. For information on how best to donate, contact Jacobs at 302-339-7189.

Meanwhile, the cause of the fire was listed as undetermined on Thursday and the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the fire is urged to contact Senior Deputy Fire Marshal Rob Korb at 410-632-5666 or [email protected].

To view the GoFundMe page, click https://www.gofundme.com/fire-loss-2w9tf44?ssid=784866537&pos=1

Story courtesy Shawn Soper - The Dispatch