My name is Jessica Cataldo. Last night at around 6:10pm, I was alerted by a Good Samaritan driving by that my home was on fire, as they screamed for myself and my three children to get out.

In the midst of my panic, we grabbed our infant daughter and I yelled to my 8 year old daughter and six year old son to quickly put their coats on while I grabbed my coat, a couple cans of formula, my purse, and a diaper bag. This is all that we took and I remember thinking that the firefighters would get there quickly and I didn’t see any flames on the outside so it must not be that bad. I was poorly mistaken in thinking it was not so bad.

We had made it to the car and out of the 10° weather but by the time I got the kids in the car, the fire engines had blocked us into the driveway. We were forced to reverse as far as possible into the backyard and watch helplessly as fire engulfed our home.

I am grateful to God that my family made it out safely and that the tenants upstairs weren’t home when it happened, although they did lose their six month old kitten in the fire.

I never imagined I’d be in these shoes nor do I wish it on my worst enemy. Now I am trying to pick up the pieces and figure out our next steps as my family lost everything in that fire. Anything you can help with is appreciated beyond that which words could possibly describe. May God Bless and protect you always.

Thank you!

*Please note: the second floor tenants have set up a separate Go Fund Me for their family. They also lost all of their belongings and only have the clothes they had left the house wearing. If you’re able to assist them as well I’m sure they would also appreciate it. Search “3 Alarm Fire Family Lost Everything” if you’d like to help them as well.