Fundraiser set up for paper carrier who rescued elderly Tarentum couple from fire days after losing her car in blaze
A fundraising effort is underway to help a newspaper carrier who lost her car and other belongings to a fire just two days before she risked her life to pull an elderly couple from a burning house in Tarentum on Monday.
A GoFundMe page was set up Tuesday to help Jennifer Colarossi, who was delivering the Tribune-Review early Monday when she came upon a fire that erupted at a home in the 900 block of Grantham Street.
Colarossi, 38, of the Natrona Heights section of Harrison encountered a woman who was yelling from just inside the open door that she was unable to move because she previously had suffered a stroke. The woman’s husband was standing at the threshold and helped to guide Colarossi to his wife, who was on the floor.
Colarossi pulled the woman from the house just as firefighters arrived and then led the woman’s husband to safety.
The woman was transported to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, and her husband was treated at the scene. The house sustained damage from smoke and water but is habitable, according to authorities.
The fundraiser for Colarossi was set up by Tom Pendergast of Harrison after he learned that Colarossi’s 2014 Chevy Sonic caught fire and was destroyed Saturday while she was driving home from shopping at the Pittsburgh Mills. The fire also destroyed more than $400 worth of items she had just purchased along with her purse.
The only thing that was salvaged was a package of cinnamon rolls a firefighter found in the trunk.
Pendergast noted on the GoFundMe page titled “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” that Colarossi did not have insurance to cover the loss of her car to fire.
He also noted that she is a single mother.
Pendergast set the goal for the fundraiser at $5,000 to cover the cost of replacing the car and the other items Colarossi lost.
Colarossi said she has been delivering the Trib for about six months and works a second part-time job in the medical field.
Tony LaRussa is a TribLive reporter. A Pittsburgh native, he covers crime and courts in the Alle-Kiski Valley. He can be reached at tlarussa@triblive.com.
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