The granddaughter of the 80-year-old Germantown man who died Friday after suffering life-threatening injuries when he was trapped by a house fire has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to support her displaced family of six.
Sierra Sirk, the man’s granddaughter, wrote on the GoFundMe page that her grandfather was a “veteran, a hardworking man, and a father figure” to her and her siblings. Currently, the GoFundMe page–which was created July 21–has raised more than $3,500 of the $10,000 goal.
Sirk did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s request for comment Monday evening.
At around 10:16 a.m. Friday, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) crews responded to a report of a house fire in the 11400 block of Neelsville Church Road in Germantown. About 55 firefighters responded to the blaze, according to MCFRS spokesperson Pete Piringer.
When crews arrived at the scene, they worked to knock down the fire and rescue a man who had been trapped by a fire that had begun in a bedroom on the first floor. Firefighters rescued the man, who suffered life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital where he later died.
One firefighter suffered non-life-threatening injuries fighting the blaze, Piringer wrote on social media. The family who lived in the home was displaced and their two cats were missing, he said Friday.
On the GoFundMe page, Sirk said her grandparents, older sister, niece and nephew were in her “childhood home” when the fire ignited. Her grandfather was trapped in the room where the fire started but everyone else was “able to get out safely,” Sirk wrote. She did not name her grandfather.
According to Sirk, her grandfather was flown to a MedStar hospital in Washington, D.C., where he was admitted to a trauma unit.
“While hooked up to a breathing machine and under medication, we were able to all meet up in D.C. to say our goodbyes before he was taken off support and shortly passed away,” Sirk wrote.
The funds from the GoFundMe will be used to cover funeral expenses and emergency living expenses, personal necessities, food and other needs for the displaced family, according to the fundraiser page.
Sirk said the family’s home, which was significantly damaged by the fire, is expected to be “unlivable” for some months. In addition to dealing with the loss of her grandfather, Sirk said that it has been difficult for her family–which includes a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old–to process the event without a home to return to.
Sirk wrote the home was a special place for her and other loved ones.
“Growing up, this house was always a welcoming and open-door place for me and my two sisters’ friends to hang out, live when they had nowhere else to go, or just in general a place for our family to come together,” Sirk wrote. “Built in 1979, this house has held four generations and nothing but love and memories.”