A devastating fire ripped through a home on George Street in Bristol Monday, leaving a family of four with nothing. Now the mother who escaped the flames is thanking the community for the support during the aftermath.
Megan Gauthier was the only one home when the fire broke out Monday morning.
“I rolled over and I just saw big orange flames,” Gauthier said. “There was thick black smoke and the flames shattered the living room windows.”
The escape was nearly impossible for the mother of two and their family dog, Bingo.
“If it was 30 more seconds that I woke up, we would not have gotten out of there. There would have been no way to get out,” Gauthier said.
Once they got out, the reality started to set in for the family of four now living in a hotel room.
Gauthier has two sons under the age of 8, including one with autism.
“Stuff for him, it just doubles the expenses,” she said.
They are expenses the family cannot cover because they did not have renter’s insurance. A family member saw the need and set up a GoFundMe page. More than $4,000 was raised in 24 hours and the support doesn’t end there.
“At my school they are going to be starting a clothes drive and toy drive for us,” her son Noah Gauthier said.
It will take a while to replace everything that burned and the cause of the fire is under investigation, but the family is grateful to have the help they need to move on.
“I can’t say enough thank yous,” Gauthier said. “There aren’t words to explain the gratitude that I feel and I will never be able to thank people enough.”
Click here to donate to the Gauthier family.
