Awful fire leaves Peter injured, homeless & with nothing

Our good friend and colleague, Peter Stam, almost lost his life when the houseboat he lived on went up in flames due to a fire started on an adjacent houseboat. The fire occurred yesterday morning (1/22/25) at 2 am when Peter was fast asleep. By the grace of God, Peter woke up, but only to find that his boat was also engulfed in flames. While Peter was able to escape running through the fire and smoke, it wasn't without severe injury. Peter is currently in the hospital, on a respirator with burns to his head and hands and damage to his lungs and esophagus from smoke inhalation. According to his physicians, Peter should recover from his injuries with time.

Peter unfortunately lived on his boat year-round and it was his only source of housing. Everything belonging to him was also on his boat, which ultimately sank due to the fire. Peter literally has nothing left, no home to go to, no bed to sleep in, no clothing to wear. Everything he owned is gone.

Peter works as a construction Project Superintendent overseeing the safety of our construction workers and projects. He spends his days looking out for the health and safety of others, but he desperately needs our help now.

The fire has been well documented and covered by the local media. Links to a few articles are listed below.

https://brooklyn.news12.com/officials-1-person-hospitalized-after-2-boats-go-up-in-flames-in-port-washington

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/boat-fire-port-washington-mahvygux

All donations are to be used to help Peter put a roof over his head, food in his mouth, clothing on his back until he is healthy enough to go back to work.

On a positive note, Peter's beloved 16 year old son Alex was supposed to sleep at his father's (Peter's) house boat that night, but due to the night being the coldest of the year (10 degrees), he changed his mind and stayed at his mothers home instead. Peter has conveyed his gratitude for that over and over and over.