East Deer neighbors pitch in to help family of 6 recover from fire that destroyed their home

A community is rallying in support of an East Deer family who lost everything in a Friday morning fire.

The Red Cross is assisting Aaron Ciccanti, his fiancee, Andrea Small, and their four children with a temporary place to stay, clothing and food after their home at 405 Freeport Road was destroyed.

They all got out safely after a pickup lost a wheel and crashed into a gas meter in front of their home, rupturing the line around 11:30 a.m.

“We continue supporting them on the path to recovery by pooling community resources,” said Red Cross spokeswoman Lisa Landis.

Attempts to reach Ciccanti and Small on Saturday were unsuccessful.

As firefighters were still working to control the blaze Friday, residents of the township’s Creighton neighborhood already were collecting various items for the family.

“That’s what we do here in Creighton,” resident Ed Kissel said. “We may not know them personally, but they’re still neighbors. There’s always something (tragic) like that happening between Christmas and New Year’s, around the holidays. It just so happened to land in our lap this year.”

His wife, Linda, and resident Jessie Koval started a collection effort. Folks can drop off donations at 406 Marion St. through Tuesday.

“I’m trying to round up as much as I can so that they have something,” Koval said.

She said seeing the children cry after losing their home and Christmas presents was heartbreaking.

“I have four kids myself, (and) our community is very tight-knit,” Koval said. “We will help when anybody needs help. We’re all neighbors. We’re all good with each other. There’s no way we’d let that poor mother suffer like that.”

Resident Jodi Olson lives about four houses down from where the fire took place.

“They’re nice people,” Olson said. “I feel bad about the kids losing their Christmas presents right after the holidays.”

People can also drop off clothes and other materials for the family at the East Deer police/fire station at 927 Freeport Road.

Monetary donations can be made via a GoFundMe page set up by Heather Ramsey, a relative of the displaced family.

“My nieces and nephews lost their home,” Ramsey said on the page. “(Their) mom is also pregnant and lost everything, including their car. If you can please help this family during this difficult time it would be much appreciated.”

As of Saturday afternoon, it raised $575 out of its $10,000 goal.

A Facebook fundraising page was also set up for the family. It raised a little more than $3,000 toward its $5,000 goal as of Saturday afternoon.

Deer Lakes School District officials also plan to do something to help the family. School board Vice President Louis Buck said details are still being worked out by the administration.

No injuries were reported in Friday’s incident, which remains under investigation. It’s unclear if charges would be filed against the truck’s driver. East Deer police could not be reached Saturday afternoon.

Natural gas fueled the flames that destroyed the home, pickup and severely damaged vacant homes on either side, at 403 and 407 Freeport Road.

The flames also burned through Comcast service lines, impacting several nearby towns for several hours.

Dave Hixson, a spokesman for the state Public Utility Commission, said the PUC is investigating.