A calm Monday afternoon was interrupted by a house fire that broke out in Glassboro around 6:30 p.m. on the corner of Katherine Court and Christopher Lane near the Glassboro Shop Rite. The house belonged to the Heaton family. Shortly after the fire started, firefighters and other emergency personnel showed up to the scene and began to battle the blaze.

First responders had the situation well under control shortly after arriving on the scene. Corporal Steve Cavallaro of the Glassboro Police department said that the emergency services in town did the job they needed to do when the call came in.

“We just cleared it for the fire department really,” Cavallaro said. “All we did was take care of the traffic and everything, got some vehicles moved out of the way, shut down some traffic so the fire apparatus could get in here and let them take the show over.”

The firefighters had the blaze all but extinguished within 45 minutes. All members of the family made it out safely and unharmed. As the first responders did their jobs, many bystanders gathered to both observe and support the mourning family, including Glassboro native Vincent Mollo.

Mollo, who was born in Italy, but has lived in Glassboro for the last 27 years, said he hasn’t seen anything like this before in his time in South Jersey. He felt like he had to help the people displaced.

“I bring them water from my house because you know, me and my wife feel bad for them,” Mollo said. 

As Mollo held back tears, he said that he hoped this one act of kindness would be the start of a good turn of fortune for the family.

“You try to do good,” Mollo said. “And some day it will all work out.”

A Go-Fund-Me page has been set up for the Heaton family.

For comments/questions about this story, email news@thewhitonline.com or tweet @TheWhitOnline.

SaveSave