Cat missing in Bethel house fire
BETHEL — A cat is missing after a fire at a Walnut Hill Road home on Saturday afternoon.
Units from the Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Company responded for a report of a fire at 151 Walnut Hill Road around 12:45 p.m.
Officials confirmed the blaze later Saturday and said more information would be released in the evening.
The fire company also shared a link to a post from the homeowner of the Walnut Hill Road home, which included information about the missing cat.
“We lost our house to a fire today (yes, that was us) and our cat, we think, got out of the house,” Susan Gierc Skramstad wrote in a post on her Facebook page.
She asked those who are local to the area to keep an eye out for the orange tabby, Max, — who she said weighs barely 8 pounds. She said he wears a collar with a name tag, but added that since it is a breakaway collar, it might have broken off.
“Please keep a lookout,” Skramstad wrote. “Share everywhere you can. My daughter is devastated.”
She said he is an indoor cat and would likely be scared.
Later Saturday night, Alicia Craybas started a GoFundMe campaign, seeking $5,000 to help the Skramstad family after the “devastating house fire,” according to the fundraiser’s description.
In the first hour of the fundraiser’s launch, more than $1,000 was donated.
“They lost everything and friends have helped with clothes for now,” Craybas said. “They will need some assistance and since we are in a pandemic, Connecticut state protocol makes it a little harder to get some items.”
If anyone spots Max, Skramstad asked them to call her at 203-219-3411.