On Monday, December 29th, a devastating fire tore through the Orange County homes of two families, virtually destroying their homes and most of their belongings. While the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department was not a part of this response, we are hoping to help them rebuild.

One of the families affected by this blaze was that of FF Patrick Campbell, a career firefighter at the Montrose Veterans Affairs campus. In addition to this role, Pat is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and also serves as a member of the Air National Guard, a firefighter at Stewart Air Force Base, and as a volunteer in his local FD. Many of us at the CFD are familiar with and have worked with FF Campbell, most recently at the Christmas Eve fire in Montrose. FF Campbell, his wife Danielle and their three children are homeless and in need of any help that anyone can provide them. A "gofundme" donation page has been established to help the Campbell family recover.

The other family affected by this blaze is that of Sergeant Wilmar Lopez of the United States Marine Corps. Sgt. Lopez is married and also has three children, and they too have been left homeless due to this inferno. A similar donation page has been established to help this Marine and his family rebuild from this tragedy.

We ask that if you can donate any money to these two families, to please do so. The Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department thanks all of you in advance for your donations, and we hope that the Campbell and Lopez families are able to recover as quickly and smoothly as possible from this horrible incident.