By FireRescue1 Staff
TABERNACLE, N.J. — A firefighter who responded to a call about his own home burning is now getting much-needed help from the fire department.
ABC6 reported that Tabernacle Fire Department volunteer firefighter Jason Penwell and his family are temporarily staying at Fire Co. No. 1, where he works, until they can find a home.
“In the big scheme of things, it’s a house, a place where we sleep,” Penwell said. “But my kids are OK, my wife is OK.”
“I brought them back here before the fire was even over,” Chief Dave Smith said. “Just to get his kids and him out of there. They didn’t need to watch anymore.”
Penwell said he responded to the call about the fire without knowing it was his own home, and his son, Trevor, who had just been dropped off by a school bus, had already been inside the home four times to rescue the family pets.
“It was tough, but I thank God nothing happened to him,” Penwell said.
The family lost everything in the fire, but Penwell’s wife, Stephanie, said they’ve received so many donations she doesn’t even know where to begin.
“It’s been amazing,” she said. “We have clothes for pretty much all of our members of our family.”