The Gendron family of five — including a special needs daughter whose birthday was Friday — and their two dogs escaped without injury; however, they left with only the clothes on their backs.

A GoFundMe drive — Gendron Family Needs Help After Fire Tragedy — has been established. A Gendron Family Fund account will be set up today at Northern Interstate Bank for those wishing to donate locally.

Megan Vassar, owner of The Thirsty Whale, said monetary and clothing donations can also be dropped off at the establishment, 825 U.S. 2 in Norway. They need plastic storage totes as well.

A benefit for the family is planned as well from 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday at The Thirsty Whale. They will have music, Indian Taco food truck, 50-50 drawings and other raffles every two hours.

The rear of the Gendron family home, where the fire is thought to have started Friday. A benefit for the family has been set for 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday at The Thirsty Whale in Norway. (Gendron family photo)

They will also have yard games and bounce houses available for the kids.

Anyone wishing to donate raffle items for the event can drop them off at The Thirsty Whale before Thursday.

“The Gendrons are known in the community for their kindness, generosity and resilience,” Vassar said. “Now it’s our turn to give back to them.”

The Norway Volunteer Fire Department was called to 708 Chestnut St. about 8:30 p.m. for a possible “stove fire.” Heavy smoke and flames could be seen coming out of the back of the two-story home when crews arrived only three minutes later, fire chief Dave Bal said, adding they were able to respond quickly because they were already at the fire hall preparing for the fireworks show.

“Within four minutes it was a complete structure fire,” Bal said, noting U.S. 2 had to be shut down for a brief period.

The Gendrons, who are renting from an out-of-town owner, had been gone all afternoon and returned to fire alarms going off and the back of the house filled with smoke.

“It had been going for quite a while before,” Bal said.

Bal said the source of fire was electrical but it is still unclear what caused it. “They just assumed it was coming from the stove, but they had never used it that day,” he said.

“It’s a total loss,” he said.

The crews faced several obstacles in trying to fight the fire Friday, including heat, the building’s old construction and the nearest fire hydrant being 1,000 feet away.

“Within the first half hour to 45 minutes, we had firemen going down from heat exhaustion,” Bal said. “Everything hampered us.”

One firefighter was treated on site and two taken to the hospital, later returning to the fire after they were released, he said.

Breitung Township Volunteer Fire Department was called in to provide some relief. “We were doing shifts because it was so hot,” Bal said. “North Alert was doing wellness checks as firemen were going in and out.”

The fire departments had it contained and left the site about 1:30 a.m. Saturday but had to return at 6:30 a.m. for heavy smoke where the roof had collapsed at the rear of the structure. A mini excavator was brought in to take down that portion of the house, Bal said.

“We had to remove it or we would still be fighting the fire,” he said.

Saturday morning they helped search for a few special keepsakes. “We were able to get a few knickknacks out, but everything was melted together because of the heat,” Bal said, adding, “I feel very bad for the family.”

Carrie and Matt Gendron expressed their appreciation to the Norway Fire Department and other units for everything they did for them.

Assisting NFD and BTFD was North Alert, Integrity Care EMS, Dickinson County Sheriff’s Department, Norway Police Department, DTE and a Norway Public Works Department crew.

Bal thanked community members for donating water and Gatorade. He noted the public even jumped in to lend a hand to get hoses to the hydrants.

He also appreciates everyone’s understanding on not being able to conduct the fireworks show this weekend as originally planned. Fireworks have been rescheduled for at dusk Saturday, weather permitting.

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Terri Castelaz can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85241, or tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com.