Ravenna family loses home, 3 pets just days before Christmas

RAVENNA, Ohio - Just days before Christmas, a Portage County family has lost everything in a devastating house fire. But thankfully, their community is trying to help.

"We got this so far," said Dave Delphia showing a trunk-full of toys all purchased for a little girl. 

The little girl the presents were purchased for, believed to be around 2-years-old, lost her home early Saturday to a devastating house fire that not only engulfed the home, but also killed three beloved family pets according to the Ravenna Fire Department.

Authorities said the family of three came home just after midnight to the 400 block of South Diamond Street in Ravenna, only to find their home engulfed in flames. No family members were inside the two-story house but three dogs were, all presumed dead according to the Ravenna Fire Department.

Alex Fincham, who lives across the street said, "The door, the front door over there [referring to the home on fire] it just exploded. It was crazy."

Fincham and other neighbors said they didn't really know the family and described them to have recently moved in. Another neighbor said the family had just renovated the S. Diamond St. home.

Diane Wable, who lives next door said, "It took them [firefighters] over two hours just to get it under control."

Dave Delphia recorded the flames reaching higher than the home's roof early Saturday. He's the CEO of D & C Renovations, Inc., the company that was called-in to shut down gas lines as firefighters worked to stop the flames.

For this to happen just days before Christmas, Delphia said, "It's a tragedy any time of the year, but it hits you even more when it's around the time of the year that it is now." Which is why Delphia told us he decided to take action.

"We already gathered some toys up for, I guess they have a two-year-old little girl from my understanding, but we're going to see if we can get something for the adults of the house. We're trying to do anything that we can do here," Delphia said.

Less than 24-hours after the fire, the Ravenna business owner posted his video of the large flames on his company's Facebook page and was able to collect a few donations from other business owners in the community. Delphia said he also had some other gifts that were collected for a charity that he now plans to give to the family. They are mostly Christmas presents but Delphia said he's also trying to collect furniture and other items the family of three may need. 

Delphia said he's never met the family and plans to contact the Fire Department to get in touch with them, but he's already got a trunk-full of items for them that's ready to go. 

"Anything we can do to help, we're going to help," said Delphia.

You can check out Delphia's company Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/DcRenovationsInc

No word yet on the cause of the fire, but it appears to have started on the first floor of the home.