THROOP - Dom Rinaldi has seen the devastation of a house fire as a firefighter and a fire victim, forced from his home by a Feb. 11 fire.
Saturday, he found himself in another role he never imagined he'd be in: a beneficiary of a fundraiser.
More than 100 friends, family, fellow firefighters and strangers paid $10 each for entertainment, food and drink at the Throop Fire Company 2 with proceeds going to help Mr. Rinaldi and his family with expenses not covered by insurance.
"This is amazing," Mr. Rinaldi said as he looked over the turnout. "My friends take good care of me."
The fundraiser was hosted by two fire departments Mr. Rinaldi works for: Dunmore and Throop, whose members began planning an event the day after the fire forced the Rinaldi family from its Dunmore Street home.
"We want to help him get some normalcy back in life," said Throop Fire Chief Eric Hartshorn.
The aftermath of a fire, even one in which no one was injured, Mr. Rinaldi learned, is more stressful than the fire itself. For a time, he struggled with basics of where his family would live or where they would eat. The insurance included a hotel room, but that would not have been sufficient for him, his wife, two daughters and several pets.
Fortunately, a friend had an apartment available, but it is still small and unfamiliar. Much of the work in the family's home, a bakery he converted to a residence right down to making the cabinets, is destroyed. He hopes the home will be restored by summer.
"This is the worst experience I had to deal with in my life," he said. "I've never seen this side of it."
The fire changed the way he looks at his job. It added new sincerity to the obligatory comment to fire victims that he is sorry for their loss. When people whose homes are smoldering return a blank stare, he knows the sense of helplessness behind it.
He also got insight into the work of charitable groups to which he has donated and for which he helped raise money.
"We help the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, and here they were helping us," he said. "I never imagined I'd be using those services."
At first, Renee Pasko, Mr. Rinaldi's sister, wondered about the wisdom of having the fundraiser compete with Scranton's St. Patrick's Day Parade. But people seemed to have done what she did, come to the fundraiser after the parade.
"It's an amazing turnout," she said.
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