Fundraiser started for family whose home was damaged by fire in December
Sarah Schnur and her two children were visiting family in New Jersey for Christmas when she received a call that her Summit Township home was on fire Dec. 23, 2023.
According to Schnur, she moved her family to Butler from New Jersey four years ago, after her father passed away, to keep the home in the family.
“The only reason we’re out here is because of that house. It’s been in my family my whole life,” she said. “It’s a sentimental thing.”
Schnur, her son Mason, 14, and her daughter MacKenzie, 10, were displaced when they arrived back from the holidays and still have not been inside their home. They are staying in a hotel.
“We started with the Red Cross, they were helpful,” she said. “Trying to find a place in this market with what we can afford is not easy. ... The manager of the hotel has been so helpful.”
Schnur said she has tried contacting the state police fire marshal to see if she’s allowed to go into the house to salvage what remains.
“I don’t know if I can go in there, I don’t know if I need an escort,” she said. “There’s caution tape ... I don’t even have a report of the fire. It’s very frustrating.”
State police said Monday that the fire marshal was not in due to the Martin Luther King holiday.
The fire, which crews were dispatched to around 7:49 p.m. on Dec. 23, extinguished itself due to lack of oxygen, according to Rob Shuler, chief of the Herman Volunteer Fire Company.
Schnur said a neighbor who was watching her dog, Granger, initially reported the blaze.
“They saw the fire through the front window,” she said.
The house was severely damaged and probably will have to be demolished, according to Shuler.
He said Monday the cause of the fire still is undetermined, and the fire marshal would be documenting the fire.
A GoFundMe page for the Schnurs was started by a family member with a goal set at $3,500. Donations amounted to $2,375 by Monday, more than a week after the fundraiser page was created.
“Friends and family can only help so much, and then people forget it even happened,” Schnur said. “I picked up my kids and moved here to try and make it work out here, and it all fell apart.”
She said her community has been helpful since she found out about the fire.
“I went to New Jersey with one suitcase and came home with three,” she said. “We’re just so appreciative of what we have received. It’s hard to express gratitude in such a massive way.”
Schnur said she was able to send one of those suitcases with her daughter, who is staying with a friend. Nevertheless, she said clothes for her children still are needed.
In an update posted on the fundraiser site, Schnur also asked that people continue sharing the GoFundMe page.
“We still need your help to get through all of this,” she wrote. “Thank you to those who have reached out, shared, and donated. It means the world to us to have people in our lives to help us out during this trying time.”
To donate to the Schnur family, visit gofund.me/ff4d1595.
