The John Street family is beginning to rebuild the house with the support of neighbors and Princeton University students.
By: Jennifer Potash
Hope can spring up in unlikely places, as members of the Thomas family are discovering as they rebuild their fire-damaged home.
On Feb. 2, an early-morning blaze gutted most of the second floor of their multi-family John Street house. The first floor suffered water, heat and smoke damage.
Camille Thomas, who lived in the upstairs living unit where the fire began, points to a soot-covered plastic cross hanging on an exposed wall beam. Ms. Thomas said the cross, which adorned her foster daughter’s bedroom wall, was all but lost in the blaze. During the removal of the debris, a volunteer discovered the crucifix, she said.
"God’s grace was truly with us," she said Saturday afternoon while volunteers removed debris from the residence.
The John Street family is beginning to rebuild the house with the support of neighbors and Princeton University students.
The owner of the home, Ann Thomas, her four adult children, including Camille Thomas, and her five grandchildren were uninjured in the blaze.
The fire started when an extension cord malfunctioned and set a mattress on fire, according to investigators.
The family has since moved from one Route 1 motel to another while attempting to secure temporary housing while the house is repaired.
Len Newton, a Princeton businessman, along with Jim and Fannie Floyd and David Prince, have spent the past five weeks helping the family find housing. He said it has been a cumbersome process from waiting for necessary reports to dealing with insurance companies and real estate agencies.
A couple of weeks ago, Mrs. Thomas had secured a rental home for her family, provided a certified check for the deposit and first month’s rent to the rental agency only to be rejected by the property owner the day before the family was to move in.
"The (real estate agent) called me up and said the owners didn’t want to rent to me," said Mrs. Thomas, who declined to identify the rental agency.
Following the rejection, the family found a residence on Alexander Road and will move in this week.
Joanna Kendig, a John Street resident, volunteered to coordinate the on-site cleanup and worked on the renovation plans for the Thomas residence. She said the goal is to have the family back on John Street in six months.
The dramatic outpouring of help from the community has sustained the Thomas family during this ordeal.
The family is deeply grateful for the response of neighbors, nonprofit groups and local businesses, Mrs. Thomas said.
The Red Cross provided funds for temporary shelter in the first days following the fire. Local churches, such as Nassau Presbyterian, Witherspoon Presbyterian, Mount Pisgah AME Church and First Baptist Church, all offered assistance ranging from monetary donations to volunteers and use of church vehicles.
Local eateries, such as Edy’s Place, Abel Bagel, Hoagie Haven, Victor’s Pizza and Red Star Pizza, either provided or offered free food to the volunteers clearing out the Thomas home.
"It is amazing how everybody pitched in," said Vanessa Thomas, another of Ann Thomas’s daughters who lived in the house. "I can’t say thank you enough."
Princeton University’s Community House has sent cadres of students, who helped clean salvageable possessions and prepare the house for renovation.
"I was happy to help," said Rena Ouseph, a senior and one of 14 university students working on the house.
Also, the Princeton YWCA and Princeton Family YMCA opened its facilities to children of the volunteers, said Cynthia Parker, a John Street resident helping the Thomas family.
Some of the family’s furniture was saved along with some precious family heirlooms including a late-19th century photograph of the residence Mrs. Thomas discovered in a closet two days before the fire.