Fire Relief Fund - Kocks/Zielinski Family

My name is Nicole Blackmore. I started this for my friends, Aaron and Quinn. This will be through my eyes, my experience. Mine was awful, theirs even more so! It's August 19th, my phone rings around 12:20. It's Quinn. I barely get a hello out and she says..my house is on fire go get my dogs. I don't think I even responded. I jumped up, grabbed my daughter and ran out the door. I drove as fast as I could. The 10 minute drive felt like it was taking an hour. We thought we were going to pick up dogs, we thought it would be ok. We were wrong. I pulled onto her road, saw the fire trucks, smelled the smoke...I remember just running towards the house. One mission, save as many fur babies as I could. I approached the first person who looked like he was running this fire. I just blurted are the dogs out. The look on his face said it all. Not a single one survived. I lost it. I fell apart, my daughter fell apart. We just stood there holding each other, both just devastated. I remember being asked if it was my house, I told them the residents were at Cedar Point but were coming home. Just as this was being said my phone rang again. It was Quinn. She wanted to know, needed to know what was happening. I tried to control my voice but failed miserably when I told her they were all gone, that the house was gone. I can still hear her voice asking "all of them?" My heart broke even more. More of Quinn and Aaron's friends and family arrived. We sat under a tree and just watched them put the fire out, answered questions the best we could and waited. Waited for our friends to get back. We knew they would need us. Those dogs were their babies. They were so loved, they are so missed. We had the easy job. We just had to be there. Quinn and Aaron? Their job was much harder. They had to drive all the way home, staying as calm as possible for the kids. Kids who had just been rushed out of Cedar Point, kids who had no idea how their world was about to change, kids who are so kind and innocent. No child should have to go through what they have been through. I wish I could make this go away. I wish I could give them their house back. More than anything I wish I could hand them their fur babies. But I can't. What I can do is be there for them in any way they need me to. I can start this fund to help them put their lives back together. I know 30,000 is a lot of money. It's a high goal, one I hope we reach. They not only need it as they rented and did not have insurance but they deserve it. They are the kind of people who would help anyone with anything at any time. So please, help me help them. If we all give a little we can reach this goal!