Thursday, August 26, 2010
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The Ben and Lynda Payne family returned from a camping trip recently to discover their West Side home severely damaged by a fire. In the background is Ben. Lynda spends time with their daughters, from left, Daisie, 2; Chelsea, 4; and SeaAnna, 7. The family is staying with a friend.
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The Payne family lost everything in the fire. Compounding the problem, Ben says he has a heart ailment that will require surgery, and he cannot work.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
jgoodwin@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Ben and Lynda Payne thought a family vacation would be the perfect way to relieve the stress brought on by pending medical challenges, but returning from vacation was anything but a relief.
Ben Payne, 34, said he awoke the last day of the family camping trip and received the shock of his life.
“I woke up that morning, turned my phone on, and it blew up with messages from people telling me that my house had blown up,” Payne said.
Payne said he returned to the West Side to find his home at 203 S. Portland Ave. severely damaged in a fire along with everything the family owned. He said the family had even lost new school clothes purchased for their three daughters.
Youngstown firefighters are investigating the fire to determine a cause.
“I don’t know how to deal with this yet. I am basically still in denial,” Payne said. “You just think what if I had stayed home and not gone camping, my house might still be there.”
To make matters worse for the family, Ben Payne is scheduled for major heart surgery in mid-October at the Cleveland Clinic. He had been working at Vanex Tools in Niles until his heart ailment made it impossible to continue working.
Payne, because of the stress on his heart, now speaks with a slight whisper and reflects on the home he has lost.
He said he and his wife remodeled most of the home and had put a great deal of their money into making it a place to raise their children.
Payne said the fire has been a nightmare, but longtime friends like Domingo Rivera of the North Side are helping to ease the burden on the family. The family has been staying with Rivera since the Thursday morning fire.
“I have known Ben more than 20 years. They are staying with me for now and we are just trying to get help from the Red Cross and the community as well,” Rivera said.
“This was not a good time for this to happen because he is going to surgery and will need a place to rest, plus school is starting and the kids are going to need a bit of everything.”
Rivera took the matter to the Internet, placing the family’s plight on Facebook. He also has started an account at a local bank, and he is asking the community to come forward and make donations to help defray any expenses the family might have in the immediate future.
The family is asking for donations of money, food, clothes and anything else that would help them get back on their feet.
A fund has been set up at Huntington Bank under “Payne Family Benefit Account” for anyone wishing to help.