County shutdown looming

Senior trips not feasible for many

<b>First Posted:</b> 4/7/2007<br><br>EDWARD LEWIS and JOHN KRISPIN elewis@www.timesleader.com jkrispin@www.timesleader.com


PLYMOUTH &amp;ndash; A fire that destroyed a double-block residence last Friday hit close to home for the Cunningham family. 
&amp;ldquo;I was in Dallas when I heard it on my pager. It was my parents&amp;rsquo; house. I got in and helped fight the fire,&amp;rdquo; said Earl Cunningham Jr., 50, a firefighter for 32 years and an assistant fire chief in Plymouth Township. 
Earl&amp;rsquo;s parents, Earl Sr., 75, and Margaret, 70, lost everything when the fire gutted their home at 199-201 Rowe Lane, where they lived for 35 years. 
His younger brother, Blake, 32, is a volunteer firefighter for Plymouth Hose Co. No. 1 and an emergency medical technician in Edwardsville. Another younger brother, Scott, 47, was once a junior firefighter for Plymouth. 
&amp;ldquo;They only got the clothes that they were wearing,&amp;rdquo; Earl Jr. said about his parents. &amp;ldquo;Family pictures, all the black and white pictures going back 50 years were lost.&amp;rdquo; 
No one was injured. 
Scott was the only person home and was unharmed. 
Earl said Scott was home watching television and smelled smoke. Thinking the smoke was coming from a nearby garage, Scott called Luzerne County 911. 
At about the same time, Earl said a firefighter was exiting a restaurant on Main Street two blocks away, when he saw the smoke.
&amp;ldquo;It was burning for a while before the alarm came in,&amp;rdquo; Earl said. &amp;ldquo;It took me 20 minutes to get there and when I did, the fire was through the roof and walls. These old homes have balloon construction and when there&amp;rsquo;s a fire in the basement, it shoots up in the walls to the attic and roof. That&amp;rsquo;s what appears to have happened here.&amp;rdquo; 
Earl said the state police fire marshal determined the fire originated from 199 Rowe Lane, and the cause of the fire was electrical. 
More than 100 firefighters from several departments battled the blaze.
Now, the firefighting community and a church want to help the family that has helped the community for years. 
Earl Jr. has volunteered his time teaching young firefighters in the valley, and helped battle major fires in other municipalities through the decades, including the Midway Shopping Center fire in January 2000, and the 1991 bowling alley fire in Nanticoke.
A relief fund to assist the family has been set up by the Pilgrim Congregational Church, where Margaret Cunningham is a trustee and the church custodian. 
&amp;ldquo;She is a great lady and always the first to lend a hand to anyone in the church,&amp;rdquo; said Al Weston, a member of the church. &amp;ldquo;It is a shame, and anyone who wants to help them that would be wonderful. The church is gathering supplies for them. Whatever the community can do to help them it would be great.&amp;rdquo; 
Earl Sr., Margaret and Scott are staying at a friend&amp;rsquo;s house in Lake Silkworth. Blake is staying with a friend, Earl Jr. said. 
HOW TO HELP

Contributions may be sent to several locations:
&amp;bull; Pilgrim Congregational Church
163 Center Ave.
Plymouth, PA 18651
&amp;bull; First National Bank of Berwick 
1540 Sans Souci Parkway
Hanover Township, PA 18706
&amp;bull; First National Bank of Berwick 
179 Wyoming Ave.
Kingston, PA 18704. 
All checks and money orders, etc., should be made payable to Pilgrim Congregational Church.
Pastor Edward Gospodinsky is the administrator of the fund.

Church to help family ravaged by house fire