After fire at home, family grateful for what was saved

Nearly three months after firefighters and other first responders were called to save an Edgewater Park house set ablaze by a lightning strike, they were there again Wednesday.

The mood, however, was celebratory this time.

The Geertgens family just wanted to express its gratitude to them, and it did so in a novel way.

On July 2, Earl Geertgens and his two older children, George, 16, and Kaelee, 19, were enjoying the play How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Walnut Street Theatre, unaware that the third floor of their home was being swallowed by flames.

A text message during intermission from Geertgens' wife, Tama, who was at her office with their youngest child, Emma, 13, turned his fun night out into a nightmare.

Lightning had hit George Geertgens' third-floor bedroom and started the fire in the house, built in 1790. When a neighbor saw the fire out of her kitchen window, she called 911. According to Geertgens, the Beverly Fire Department showed up before she had even hung up the phone.

By the time Earl Geertgens and his two children returned home, the fire was already out and parts of his three-story home that he had lived in for the last 20 years were covered in inches of muck and debris.

Though devastated by the damage, all the members of the Geertgens family were thankful that there were no injuries and that they had not lost as much as they feared.

"A couple of good things happened as a result of something crazy," Earl Geertgens said. He is president and CEO of Free Axez wire management systems, a family company where his wife is the chief financial officer.

The first responders had managed to not only put out the fire and save the Geertgens' elderly uncle and a dog who were in the house, but also to salvage priceless family possessions.

Those included a photograph of Earl Geertgens' late mother and a Civil War-era painting depicting Tama Geertgens' relatives.

The items saved by the firefighters were tucked away safely in the second-floor master bedroom, which was out of harm's way.

"A picture of a loved one that's passed can't be replicated. Sometimes just a photo could be worth a lot more than a bag of money," said Mike Johnson, Beverly's fire chief.

"When I opened the door to the master bedroom and saw the pictures on our bed, it just stopped me dead cold," Earl Geertgens said. "It's hard to explain the chills."

Richard Sykora, a family friend, was adamant that these acts not go unnoticed. Through the Sykora Family Charitable Foundation in Pitman, $500 was donated to each of the first-response teams that arrived at the house.

Earl and Tama Geertgens presented the checks Wednesday to representatives of the Beverly, Riverside, Burlington City, Burlington Township, Cinnaminson, Delanco, and Willingboro Fire Departments and the Beverly-Edgewater Park EMS and Virtua EMT teams.

"We are just so grateful," Tama Geertgens said.

"We're always there to help a good cause out," Richard Sykora said. The 10-year-old foundation has made donations to local fire companies, cancer societies, and people in desperate need, he said, adding, "I'm happy I'm able to do it."

Lt. Marc Friddell of the Willingboro Fire Department said that the small side street where the house is located is too narrow for fire trucks, so he and others had to park on the main road and carry equipment up the block.

Friddell said he and his squad were very thankful to receive the money. Usually, he said, firefighters just get baked goods and cards delivered to the firehouse.

None of the companies that received donations has announced what they will do with the money.

It's not uncommon for a lightning-laced storm to start a fire, according to Jim Anderson, a firefighter from Willingboro.

"Storms usually have a tendency to do stuff like that," he said. "Then once the fire's out, it's a salvage job."

While the family was thankful that the firefighters took time to save precious keepsakes, firefighters said it was standard protocol.

"We save anything that looks like it's worth saving," Friddell said.

The Geertgens family is renting a house in Moorestown, but expects to move back home in about a year.

"I can't wait to move back in," George Geertgens said.