Despite devastating losses, the families of Lehigh Avenue’s 200 block are moving forward thanks to the support of friends and family throughout Palmerton and beyond.

Corey and Katherine Eckhart lost their home at 245 Lehigh Ave. to a fire on Friday afternoon.

Katherine had been preparing dinner on the grill, as it was far too hot to cook indoors, when her son called her inside for help. That request may have just saved her life, though the home that once belonged to her great-grandparents was lost.

“I went out back, turned on the gas tank, turned on the burners and hit the starter. It turned on, I turned down the burners, put the chicken on, and my son came out and said he needed his diaper changed. I closed the grill — obviously, you don’t want to leave it open and walk away — and I went inside.

“Our house is really tiny, so in the amount of time it took me to get from my grill to my couch to sit down, there was this loud ‘boom!’ I looked out the window, and there were flames. All of the sudden, there was another ‘boom!’” Eckhart said.

Eckhart grabbed her son Oliver, 2, and her 3-month-old daughter Jane before racing outside. Her next-door neighbor, Ashleigh Nemeth, was already on the phone with 911. Eckhart gave Jane to Nemeth, and raced to put Oliver in the car before running back inside to rescue her dogs.

“By the time I got the kids and the dogs out, I went upstairs and the flames were already at the second story,” Eckhart said.

Eckhart and her father, who lives only a few houses away, raced to douse the flames, to no avail.

A portion of the back porch roof collapsed on Eckhart’s father. A neighbor ran into the burning home, insisting that they needed to leave immediately.

Fire response

Palmerton, Lehighton, Bowmanstown, Walnutport and Slatington’s volunteer fire companies responded to the call.

“By the time the firemen got there, the house was pretty much done. It was going to be done no matter what. When they opened the door, flames shot out. Ashleigh’s house was full of smoke,” Eckhart said.

Slate roofing made ventilation especially difficult.

Crews cycled in and out in order to avoid exhaustion from the heat.

At the end of the evening, smoke and fire damage had left a total of 19 people without a home.

Corey, who had been in Jim Thorpe on a job, was informed of the fire by a neighbor.

He quickly raced to the home, found a neighbor holding Jane, and dashed around the scene trying to locate Katherine and Oliver.

It wasn’t long before the tight-knit community of Palmerton stepped up to offer their help.

Donations came from just about everywhere, and the news quickly spread beyond the borough, with more and more people reaching out.

A blankie for Oliver

In the midst of the chaos, Oliver had little idea of what had happened.

All he knew was that his favorite toys, along with a cherished blanket given to him by his uncle when he was a baby, were nowhere to be found.

Eckhart, looking to provide a bit of comfort to her little boy, looked high and low for a replacement, but the company that made the blanket no longer manufactured the dinosaur design he loved so much.

After putting out a request on social media, though, friends, family and complete strangers made it a mission to get Oliver a blankie just like his old one.

“I have gotten messages from as far away as Venezuela saying they have the blanket, and they want to know where to send it.

“Last night, I drove an hour to meet a lady and get the blanket,” Eckhart said.

On top of that, an abundance of toys, clothes and other necessities have poured into Eckhart’s parents home, in addition to other family members’ residences.

While they appreciate the gracious nature of the community, they have accumulated so many contributions that they are paying the favor forward by donating to organizations like Family Promise.

Looking ahead

Right now, the Eckharts are motivated to finish up the home that they purchased last summer.

It will provide a temporary home, though Katherine said they are looking to sell the place as soon as possible, as they would prefer a single-story residence after what has happened.

“The kids’ bedrooms are on the third floor there. That makes me nervous.

“What if this happens again, and the kids are two stories above me?” she said.

“I don’t ever want to have to worry about running up a flight of stairs to get my children.”

Currently, the Eckharts are looking for help to finish the roof, as it is one of the last large portions of the project that needs attention.

Numerous groups are still reaching out to help the Eckharts and the other families who have been displaced.

Raising money

Samantha Culkin, a neighbor from Columbia Avenue, is hosting a special fundraising event this weekend.

“We’re doing it Friday, starting at 6 p.m. at the 110 Tavern, right in Palmerton. We’re going to have donation boxes for the families, and we’re doing a basket raffle/Chinese auction,” Culkin said.

“This is a little town, and that’s what small-town living is about.”

Eckhart said that she and the other families cannot thank the community enough, as they are helping them rebuild their lives after this devastating tragedy.

Even if keepsakes, heirlooms and other physical items are lost, life will go on, Eckhart said, and everyone will keep moving forward together.

“It’s just amazing. You don’t realize how big your family and circle of friends is until something like this happens. Your third cousin, their best friend and their best friend’s cousin, it’s just this big spiraling network that happens,” she said.

“It’s overwhelming, but in a good way.”