BARNEGAT – The Ocean County Fire Marshal believes the cause of that massive house fire over the weekend was electrical in nature thanks to an outlet in the garage. Now a family is left without their forever home.
Friends of the affected family have started fundraising to help them through this challenging time.
A GoFundMe was created by Barnegat resident Melissa Di Dia. The page said that the residents Melissa and Matt Lawrence were not at home at the time of the fire but when they got there, the house was engulfed in flames and their cat Bonnie was nowhere to be found.
The post on the fundraiser page says “with the help of the community, friends and families we can all help them get back to normal, help them get through these tough times. Unfortunately, they lost everything therefore they need to start over from scratch. I am asking if you could help in anyway to help them to move on from this horrific nightmare they would be greatly appreciative.”
On Saturday, July 23, multiple police, fire and emergency medical crews went to the structure fire at 109 Cox Road in the afternoon. At one point, several fire departments were on the scene battling the massive blaze that led to the home being completely destroyed. A vehicle in the driveway of the home was also a total loss.
No one was injured.
Melissa Lawrence told Jersey Shore Online that her 18-year-old daughter Faith Todero was able to rescue two of their dogs. Lawrence said “Faith was at the house alone, ran back in and got the two dogs out of their crates to safety. It still gives me chills to think they were crated in the master bedroom over the garage and the crates were hot to the touch.”
Lawrence also thanked the community for the amazing outpouring of support.
According to property records, the Lawrence’s only purchased the home in July 2021 and it was constructed by D.R. Horton.
To donate to the GoFundMe, which so far has reached $8,735 of the $10,000 goal, click here.
