Van Wert family devasted after losing pets in house fire

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – It was a normal day for Shelly and Larry Jewell until the unthinkable happened.

The two were out to dinner when they got a call nobody wants to receive. “My son called and said ‘there’s a fire on Stripe Rd.’ And he said, ‘mom I think it’s your house,” says Shelly Jewell.

“We got up we ran as fast as we could. And when we got there, my house was engulfed,” she continues. Their Van Wert home went up in flames last Thursday.

But the Jewell’s lost more than just their home. “Our hardest thing is we lost our animals. I had a 7-year-old 130-pound German Shepard that was like our baby. And then we had 3 cats,” says Shelly.

She explained how the damage has made her think, “Our perspective has changed some. You don’t need 50 million shoes, just one pair of shoes you know. Just to have that pair of shoes, you don’t really realize it until you have nothing.”

Few items were recovered. Shelly says, “We had some pictures in there and we were able to save some pictures, but other than that it’s a total loss.”

The Van Wert Community Emergency Response Team is now accepting donations to get the Jewell family back on their feet.

More information on how you can help can be found here: Van Wert County CERT collecting donations for family following Thursday house fire (21alivenews.com)

Copyright 2024 WPTA. All rights reserved.