Woburn Family Displaced For At Least 8 Months By Easter Day Fire

WOBURN, MA — A Woburn family was overwhelmed by the generosity of the community after they temporarily lost their home to a fire. A GoFundMe on behalf of the family has raised over $7,000.

On Easter Sunday, April 12, an electrical fire broke out in a bedroom in the Bowe-Willett family home. They will not be able to return for eight months to a year, according to lifelong Woburnite Kathleen Bowe.

"People have been unbelievably kind and generous," Bowe said. "A lot of names we don't know, and people donating anonymously. It just restores your faith in people."

Bowe described the day it happened. She and her son, Evan, were downstairs talking, when the power went out in her grandson Anthony's room. Anthony went to Evan's room to tell him, and he found the fire.

Anthony, 10, came downstairs and told them.

"My son ran up the stairs and started screaming, 'call 911,'" Bowe said. "By the time he got upstairs, it was burning quite a bit."

The fire was caused by faulty wiring, she said.

"My son's room, it burned so quickly, it's completely blackened," Bowe said. "He lost everything he owned. The room beside him is soot and smoke damaged. Elsewhere, everything has serious water damage.

Bowe's other son, Teddy, lost a lot of stuff as well, as did Anthony. But all five residents — Kathleen, Evan, Teddy, Anthony and Kathleen's partner John Willett — were safe.

"I'm so grateful during the day," Bowe said. "If it was at night, it could've been a completely different outcome. That's so scary to think about it."

The fire was especially difficult for Anthony, who found it, Bowe said.

"The fireman told him, Anthony, you saved the day," Bowe said. "He's kind of traumatized by it. He's always saying, 'Don't leave the light on, it could start a fire."

The family is renting a home in Winchester while they await repairs. The money raised from the GoFundMe has allowed them to buy essentials, like clothing, silverware and food.

"I could just start crying thinking about it. People are so kind and generous," Bowe said.

She also thanked her neighbors, who were helpful and supportive the day of the fire, the Red Cross, which helped them get a hotel room immediately when most hotels were closed due to the coronavirus, and Elizabeth Black, a friend who Bowe called a "one woman rescue team."

The GoFundMe, which has raised $7,795 of its $15,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, can be found here.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.