Community supports Lynbrook family that lost everything in fire

Deanna Langdon was shopping the night of April 28 when her mother called her and told her to come home. When Langdon arrived at her house on Davison Avenue in Lynbrook, she wasn’t allowed inside, but she could see that the entire place was charred. Her two-story house had caught fire, and she, her 3-year-old son and her sister lost all of their possessions and three pets in the blaze.

To help the family recover, Mike Denis, a high school friend of Langdon’s, created a GoFundMe page, “Single Mom Lost House to Fire,” on April 29, with all of the donations going to clothes, food and shelter for Deanna; her sister, Marilyn; and her son, Isaac. As of press time, the page had raised $3,950 for the family. That same day, another GoFundMe site was created to help Marilyn. That campaign, “Help Family Who Lost Home in Fire,” had raised $11,963 as of press time.

“We are beyond thankful that she and her family are OK but we know how tremendous this loss is and we want to help her get on her feet,” Chelsea Mielinis, Marilyn’s co-worker, wrote on the page.

The money will help family members rebuild their lives. Deanna plans to use some it to buy a new computer so that she can continue taking online classes from DeVry University for a medical billing and coding certificate. She also wants to rent a two-bedroom apartment.

Last month, Lynbrook Fire Department spokesman Dan Neri told the Herald that the house was uninhabitable. It took firefighters more than three hours to contain the blaze. Since then, the family has been staying with Langdon’s mother, Elizabeth, at her house on Peterson Place, which Langdon said is cramped.

“All I’m trying to do is get them back on their feet,” Denis said. “They’ve got nothing.”

On the GoFundMe page, MaryAnn Rosino Vazquez, a friend of Elizabeth’s, offered the family a place to stay. “I have a big, clean, finished basement and they’re welcome for as long as they need,” Vazquez posted on the website. Langdon declined the offer, reluctant to relocate Isaac again. Vazquez also lives in Lynbrook, about 15 blocks from the destroyed home. She also shared the GoFundMe link on her Facebook page, netting $200 in donations.

Vazquez said she wanted to help because the family is in need. “To start with nothing, it’s really difficult, especially since the one daughter is a single mother,” she said.

Tiny Tykes in Lynbrook, the day care center where Isaac is a student, donated seven garbage bags full of new toys for him. The week of the fire, Chrissie Balchaitis, the Tiny Tykes director, asked Langdon if she wanted the school to hold a toy drive for Isaac, and, when she agreed, the school sent a letter to the parents of the other children who attend.

Isaac’s lacrosse team also refunded Deanna’s down payment, and the team’s parents donated clothes and toys, even though Isaac had attended just one lacrosse practice before the fire. Croxley Ales in Rockville Centre, where Marilyn works, will hold a fundraiser on May 19. Langdon said she is grateful for all the fundraisers, especially since she doesn’t know many of the people who have donated.

“I’m just overwhelmed by everyone who has reached out,” she said.
Some things, however, can’t be replaced, she said. Langdon’s grandmother’s ashes sat on a shelf in the second-story bedroom that collapsed onto the first floor during the fire. Langdon also lost baby pictures of Isaac. “The more I think about it, the more I think of the things I had and the things I don’t have anymore,” she said.

One of the toughest things to accept, Langdon said, was the loss of their pets — two recently adopted cats and a dog that belonged to her grandmother. “I think that was the worst, losing the animals,” she said.

The Lynbrook Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the fire.
To donate, visit www.gofundme.com/cty2tn-friends-house-burnt-down or www.gofundme.com/help-family-who-lost-home-in-fire