Fire destroyed a home owned by Jeremy and Tiffany Fidler at 600 Eagle Lake Lane in Newcastle at approximately 3:45 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The Fidlers said the fire was caused by a lightning strike, and that a couple of neighbors reported seeing the strike just before the blaze began.
Several fire departments responded to the engulfed home, according to reports, but not before calls to 911 were routed to areas outside of Newcastle, possibly due to power outages happening at the same time.
The Fidlers were not at home when the blaze occurred. Their neighbor, Tiffany Elcyzyn said they were out of state for a softball tournament at the time.
The Elcyzyns and several adjacent neighbors attempted to gain entry into the house to ensure the Fidlers were not inside passed out because of the smoke. Some of those neighbors had minor smoke inhalation. Firefighters were on the scene for about two hours, according to Tiffany Fidler.
In a note on her social media account, Fidler said, “The kindness we have received is unimaginable. It’s absolutely overwhelming. We are so grateful to all of you for messages, calls, prayers, love and funds. I was telling Jeremy I haven’t had a lot of emotions regarding the house (yet, as I’m sure that will change when I see it.) But I’m overly emotional by all the outpouring of our community, friends and families. Jeremy told me in that moment of emotions ... ‘it’s heavy and beautiful to accept this amount of love in this short amount of time.’” The Fidlers were at the home Monday afternoon as one friend was visiting offering support, and a young neighborhood boy delivered several cold waters. The home was considered a total loss, but the Fidlers told the they have insurance to help them start again. They do, however, still have several needs, according to Elcyzyn.
The neighbor posted a list of needs for the Fidler family in case there are those who want to donate. Elczyn said the Fidlers could use gift cards to Walmart, Target or Walgreens; gift cards for local eateries and local grocers; girls’ clothing sizes 10-12 shirt and short and size “4-ish” shoes for their daughter Haven, and clothing sizes 7-8 and “2-ish” shoes for their daughter Skylee. You can also send cash direct to the Fidlers on venmo @tiffany-fidler, paypal@tfid, and on cash app to $tiffanyfidler.
