Chambersburg family loses everything to house fire, but gains more from community

The last several days have been a blur for the Adamson family, who lost their Hamilton Township home to a fire on Sept. 29.

But what is clear to them is how much their friends, family, neighbors - and even strangers - have rallied around them to offer support in their most desperate time of need.

Dan and Heather Adamson were in church with their three children when they received a 911 call that would change their lives.

"I would say from moment one when we found out, leaving was chaotic and absolutely devastating," Dan said. "I knew what we were in for. My house had actually burned down when I was in fourth grade so I was bringing back memories of what we were heading into."

Although this has been a trying time for the family, they are just grateful no one was hurt - even the family dog, Roxi, was saved by firefighters.

"There was at least a peace about we had our family, we were all together, we were safe," Dan said.

Donations leave family speechless

In just over a week after the blaze, the family has been given countless donations - clothes, toys for the kids, basic necessities, food and more from a community of givers who want to help. A local good Samaritan even dropped off new bikes for the kids.

King Street Church set up a fund for the family.

A GoFundMe page created by cousin Lisa Moore has already raised over $16,000 of its $20,000 goal as of Wednesday, and more donations continue to roll in around the clock.

Support started as the flames consumed their home.

"As we got on scene, there was already church family there," Dan said. "Between family, friends, neighbors - from moment one of finding out everything happened they were already there supporting us."

"It's just been one after another," Heather said. "We got lots of phone calls and messages that day, just making sure we were okay and if there was anything that we needed. It blows us away."

Donations have been shipped in from across the country.

"My sister lives in Nashville, and we've had people from their church that don't know us at all wanting to help and send us things," Heather said. 

"It's definitely been a roller coaster," Dan said. "It's been up and down because you get down about everything that happened - and it is devastating - but then again, the love and the support and the generosity of the community - you get a high from it all."

The Adamson kids understand those conflicting feelings as well. Dan and Heather shielded them from seeing the fire right away but decided it was best to be honest with Brayden, 8, London, 5, and Beau, 3, about how their lives would be changed moving forward.

"They still anticipated us to go home that night, they wanted to go get their toys," Dan said. "So we did take them there, just to see the loss. What we've communicated to them is it's very sad that we lost a lot of things. However, the most important thing that we have, are all of us still here together; everything else can really be replaced."

They said their children have been making the adjustment well, and they are all even able to laugh together about how blunt children can sometimes be.

"I think Beau, our youngest, said it best," Dan said. "We pulled into the house that night and I was holding him in my arms. He looked at me and said, 'Daddy, I think we need a new house,' and I said, 'I think you're right.'"

Turning tragedy into a teaching experience

More than anything, Dan and Heather are trying to turn the tragedy into a humbling learning experience for their children.

It hasn't been easy, but taking time individually with the three kids has helped them explain that it's okay to be sad and how important it is to recognize the generosity of others.

When Brayden struggled with wondering why this could happen to them, his parents offered comfort even when they didn't have an answer.

"We said, 'I don't know, things happen, accidents happen - but we just have to remember God's got a plan and we'll get through it and we still have each other," Dan said.

Brayden said afterward that if they knew of anyone else this happens to, he wanted to give them his entire piggy bank to help.

"He's seeing the generosity and understanding what it means to give and to bless people and to be generous," Heather said. "Even London, she's understanding a little bit too. I was sitting there on the couch opening some little ponies for her to play with and she goes 'Mommy, people have been so nice giving us so much. We don't have anything but they're being so nice.'"

A high school classmate who Heather hadn't seen in years reached out to her with a similar story. Heather received a message on Facebook about the woman's two daughters wanting to send dolls for London to play with.

"She said, 'the girls saw that and we talked about what happened to you guys and they said they don't have anything, we need to give them something,'" Heather said.

Being able to help others in their own time of need is a small comfort for the Adamsons.

"It's been cool to see the learning and teaching experiences for others as well through this tragedy for us - that you know other kids are getting to see what it's like to be able to give and bless others. We greatly appreciate it, but if it can be a teaching moment for somebody else, I'm glad that we can do that for them."

Helping others moving forward

Even in their own loss, the family is already thinking of changes they want to make in giving back to the community that has already offered them so much.

"We've always tried to be with ones that help and reach out to others," Dan said. "But this is definitely going to change our aspect on how we help others as well."

"We're not just going to donate some of the things that don't fit or that we don't need," Heather said. "It's not going to just get donated to Goodwill, we are going to find people that actually are in need of things."

Giving back to the fire departments is another priority.

"There were four fire departments at our house and they were all fantastic," Heather said. "They were there for us to ask questions and were very compassionate toward us during the whole time they were fighting the fire in our house."

As the Adamsons look toward the next step of figuring out how to replace their home and belongings, they moved into a furnished townhouse that will provide a little sense of normalcy back into their routine.

"It hits home every time you go back and see just the devastation," Dan said. "There's really - there's really not much left."

But what they refuse to do is let the devastation define their lives.

"One thing that neither one of us has said is, 'why us?'" Dan said. "That's not even a question in our minds. There's a reason for this, and we're going to come out stronger on the other side."

The strength of the community has made the entire process a lot easier. It's left the family speechless.

"I think, what we would like to say more than anything is thank you," Dan said. "We're just normal people. It's definitely appreciated."

If you want to help the Adamson family, donations can be dropped off at King Street Church or on the family's GoFundMe page.

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