Community Rallies Around Fire Victims

The community is rallying around two Bridgeville families whose homes sustained extensive damage .

A spaghetti dinner on Sept. 18 raised money for the McDermott and Steffl families after a fire began in one of the Patterson Avenue homes and spread to the neighboring house.

In addition to the spaghetti dinner, two spent two weeks raising about $1,150 to help the young children who lived in the homes. Matt Mugrage and Trey Imler, both high school sophomores, set out a half-dozen collection jars around local businesses and spent a day collecting money outside.

“When he heard about these families, he thought we should do something,” Dawn Mugrage said about her son’s Colts 4 Kids fundraising effort. “They really started this idea of setting out the collection jars and raising money. I thought it was pretty impressive. They worked very hard on it.”

She said her family lost their home to fire when Matt was just 1, so they remember the devastation of losing personal items. Dawn Mugrage said the spaghetti dinner and student fundraiser are reminders of the strong community bonds in the area.

“The response for the spaghetti dinner was overwhelming for the community to step up and take care of their own,” she said.

Sue Tinney, who lives on Patterson Avenue near where the fire started, helped organize the spaghetti dinner and said they raised a “good bit” of money for the families. She thanked the business community and volunteers who helped with the fundraiser at .

“We really couldn’t have done it without them,” Tinney said. “People from all over are just helping out. It’s definitely exceeded our expectations.”

Tinney said they have also set up a fund to help the McDermott and Steffl families. Anyone who would like to help can send monetary donations to at 201 Beram Ave., Bridgeville, PA 15017. Checks should be made out to the Patterson Avenue Fire Victims Fund.