Fat Cats Subs starts benefit for Cheswick fire family

A Cheswick sub shop is starting a benefit to help a Cheswick family of four whose home and belongings were destroyed in a fire last Jan. 17.

Kayla Fischerkeller and Ryan Brittingham and their two children, ages 3 and 5, were not at home when fire destroyed their modular home along Beech Street.

Fat Cat’s Subs owner Jon Wildi and Brittingham are members of a dart league, and Wildi has been friends with the family for years, he said.

So it was an obvious decision for Fat Cat Subs to line up to help.

“Anyone wanting to donate household items can drop them off, or call us and we will pick it up,” Wildi said. The store also can be contacted via email.

All cash donations must be sent through the GoFundMe website, he said.

Fat Cat’s Subs will also have a hoagie fundraiser for the family Tuesday.

All proceeds from the hoagie sale will be given to Fischerkeller and Brittingham.

The two are getting married in May.

The blaze was well under way when the first fire trucks arrived just after 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 17.

Fischerkeller and Brittingham were at work and their kids were at a grandmother’s house. Their two dogs died.

Eleven fire companies were sent to fight the blaze and keep it from getting to a neighbor’s house. That house sustained smoke damage.

The fire destroyed nearly all contents.

The blaze remains under investigation, said Matt Brown, chief of the Allegheny County department of Emergency Services.

He said his department will schedule a meeting with the insurance company that covered the house.

“This is a normal phase of the investigation with insured property,” Brown said.