Community Rallies Around Bensalem Family Whose Home Burned Down

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —The community is rallying around a family of six who lost everything when their home was "intentionally set" on fire and burned down on Feb. 10.

Rebecca Evans has organized a fundraiser for the Zalenski family which she said is going through a "horrendous time in their lives."

Donations have topped $50,000 of the $25,000 goal on the GoFundMe page.

Andrew and Stacy Zalenski, along with their 2 children Alex and Ava, and Stacy's parents Joe and Karen Wendowski, lost everything in the fire which happened at 5 a.m. on Fb. 10.

Andrew was put into an induced coma due to severe smoke inhalation, and the family's two dogs, Trey and Jett, were killed in the fire.

"If you have animals, you know they are a part of your family, and they meant everything to this family," Evans said. "Stacy tried to do everything she could to save them, risking her life going back into the burning home but needed to jump out of the second-story window because she felt herself losing consciousness.

A Michigan man has been charged with six counts of attempted homicide after he drove over 700 miles to "intentionally set" a township house on fire due to being jealous over an ex-girlfriend, police said.

Evans said the Zalenski family has been through so much within the past three years, with Stacy fighting a long, hard battle with cancer to now losing their home.

"They are a gracious, loving, caring, generous family, and nobody deserves to go through everything that they have been through," Evans said. "It has been hard enough dealing with cancer and Stacy almost losing her life multiple times, to now losing their beloved dogs, precious memories, and everything they own and have worked so hard for over the years."

She said the fundraiser was started to help the family "at least take the financial burden off their backs and hopefully raise enough money to get them back on their feet."