GoFundMe account set up for family who lost everything in a fire

A house on Watkins Trail goes up in flames. [Photos by Angie Graf.]

The fire, caused by improperly disposed fireworks, caused more than $381,000 in damages and displaced five residents from the single-family home at 4139 Watkins Trail in Forest Hills, the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department reports.

“It’s really sad. They lost everything,” says Catherine Subaitani, who posted a link to the GoFundMe page on Nextdoor. So far, the fund has raised $2,000. Donations can be made here.

The fund was set up by Angie Graf, who saw the fire shortly before 1 a.m. while walking her dog. She saw flames at the carport entrance, saw through a window that the TV was on, banged on the door, and yelled for the residents to get out. Meanwhile Angie’s mother called 911.

Homeowner Stacey Smith, his daughter, two grandchildren, their dog, and pet bird all got out safely. Smith had been asleep and didn’t know the others had set off fireworks. His wife, Joanne Blaha, was out of town.

Graf, who lives next door, usually goes in the other direction when she walks her dog, but that night, headed toward Smith’s house. “It’s very scary to think what would have happened if I took my dog the usual way we go,” she says. The house had fire alarms but there wasn’t one near where the fire started.

“The house is completed destroyed,” Graf says. “The fire consumed the whole back of the house. Everything in the house is a total loss.”

The residents have accepted assistance from the Red Cross and are staying in a motel until they can move into a rental house, she says.

Meanwhile, they need basic household items until they can get reimbursed by their insurance company.

According to Angie’s mother, Debbie Graf, the fire was started when the boyfriend of Smith’s daughter disposed of the used fireworks in a trash bag and left it under the carport. If the bag had been put into a trashcan and taken to the curb, the fire would have been contained, she says.

“We just want people to help them. It’s devastating to lose everything,” says Subaitani. “We really need to help each other in these times.”