The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Fire leaves six homeless
Church on the Rock accepting donations for family
ONEIDA, N.Y. » A fire on West Walnut Street left a family of six homeless on Wednesday in Oneida.
Ashley Smith said she, Johnathan Williams, and three of their children were out to dinner when the fire started. Their oldest child, Damien Williams, 14, didn’t want to go with them and elected to stay home at their apartment on 247 West Walnut.
“He chose to stay home, we didn’t leave him there. He’s 14 and at that age,” Smith said.
Fire Chief Kevin Salerno said the Oneida Fire Department was called out around 6 p.m. to 247 West Walnut for a fire near the back of the house.
Smith said the fire was caused by a chest freezer on the back porch that shorted out. The Oneida Fire Department arrived fast enough to put out the fire before the whole structure could go up.
The other resident of 247 West Walnut is a woman who vacations in Florida during the winter, Smith said. Damien was able to get out of the house before the fire spread.
“Nobody was inside, thank God, but the wind had the potential to push that fire through the house,” Salerno said.
The fire did its damage, how-
ever, and now the family of six doesn’t have a place to call home.
“Everything is smoke damaged, everything’s black. The only thingwe really can keep is our clothes and we’re trying to wash them right now,” Smith said. “The apartment was deemed not livable and we can’t return to live there. We’re a family of six. We have four kids, with the youngest being 1 and the oldest 14.”
Smithsaid that donations have been set up through the Church on theRock specifically for their family.
“There’s a lot of stuff that we hope we can save, butwe still have no place to call home,” Smith said. “Church on the Rock has been really good to us.”
Smith said the fire could have been worse, not just because of the high winds onWednesday, but also due to the age of the building and was thankful for the Oneida Fire Department’s quick response.
Those interested in helping can contact Church on the Rock at (315) 280-4044 or Ashley Smith at (315) 7616178.