ATHOL — A refrigerator malfunction started the fire that destroyed nearly everything inside Steve and Megan Wilson’s home at 90 Mt. Pleasant St., on the morning of Oct. 14, but Gorgeous George survived.
“The pig, that was something that gave us a little hope there,” Steve Wilson said. “I was thinking he probably perished already but when he came out it was unbelievable.”
Immediately after the fire friends and family reached out to help. They started a GoFundMe, organized fundraisers and gathered donations from local businesses for a raffle to be hosted on Facebook Live this Thursday at 6 p.m. from Hometown Realtors. Tickets can be purchased for $5 at Piece by Piece Home collections on Main Street in Athol.
Racing home after Megan warned him of the fire, Steve climbed on the roof, frantically trying to save the pig until law enforcement demanded he come down, threatening arrest, Wilson said. After an hour they had lost hope any of their pets would siiurvive, but then a pig emerged from the smokey rubble.
“I think he buried his face in something because his ass was burnt,” Steve said.
The Gorgeous George’s tail had burned off, his hide was seriously singed, and he was traumatized for weeks, but had survived.
The fire started in Steve’s home office that he used for landscape design and construction work. Years of designs and plans were lost in the fire, but worse, so was the couple’s pet cat, six pet rats, and a 1970 Millennium Falcon toy.
“That was hard,” Wilson said. “It still is.”
Because there was little structural damage, Steve said they will be able to gut and renovate the burned half of the duplex and start fresh. Before the fire their insurance had lapsed so they received nothing for their losses. Money raised through donations and the raffle will pay for materials and furniture to replace what was lost.
“I can use all that money for materials and do it myself,” Steve said.
A GoFundMe page set up by Wilson’s mother, Theresa Sax, and friend Eric Olson and his mother Terry Schmidt raised $5,000 in the weeks following the fire. Through a group called Quabbin Comes Together, they have been working to gather donations and host other benefits for the Wilsons. Among the prizes for Thursday’s raffle are gift certificates to Soup on the Fly and Olde Time New England Seafood Company, and a kayak.
“Friends and family have been there, and are still there for us now.” Wilson said.
Coincidentally, the Wilson’s had helped two friends whose house burned down last May by letting them stay in a trailer in the backyard. Terry Shufelt and Kayleigh Chase have a new home now and returned the favor by letting Steve and Megan stay while they get back on their feet, too.
Raffle tickets can be purchased at hometown realtors, and ticket holders can stay home and watch the results on Facebook Live through the A&E Property Maintenance Facebook Page. Every $5 ticket purchase is one chance to win a prize, and a total of 2,000 tickets will be for sale. For questions on how to participate in the raffle, contact Eric Olson at A&E Property Maintenance through Facebook or phone at 765-242-4814.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@atholdailynews.com.