A GoFundMe page has been set up to help an Abington business owner who lost her home following an early morning fire on Sunday.
Jessica Wagner was woken up by her dog shortly before 4 a.m. on Sunday, when a fire broke out on a deck outside her second-floor apartment at 1172 Washington Street. The two-family home is owned by her parents, William and Elizabeth Wagner.
Wagner is the owner of J’s Barbershop on Wales Street. She opened the shop back in July, after being laid off from her previous barbershop job when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck.
“Everyone got out safely thanks to my dog waking me up to warn me,” she wrote on her business’s Facebook page Sunday night. “It’s devastating but trying to look at the positive and hopefully be back to doing what I love soon.”
Abington Fire Deputy Chief John Glynn said there was heavy fire showing on the second floor deck, with flames extending into the attic. Crews from Rockland, Whitman, and Holbrook also responded to the scene.
Firefighters knocked down the outside blaze and then made their way up two flights of stairs in the back of the home to reach the attic. Glynn gave credit to the Rockland firefighters who went up into the attic, saying they were on their hands and knees crawling through “pitch black” and “zero visibility” conditions to reach the flames.
Half of the second-floor apartment was “completely destroyed,” said Glynn, but that the house should be repairable. He said they believe the fire was accidental.
Wagner was able to exit the apartment with her dog, and alert the family downstairs, who also escaped. Glynn said there were no injuries from the fire.
Wagner’s brother, Zak Wagner, started a GoFundMe page to help his sister replace what was lost. As of Monday afternoon, 61 people had donated nearly $4,500 to the fund.
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