Saturday, April 17^th, 2021//Greenbrier Road, Long Beach (Lakewood Village), CA// 6:45am

On this fateful morning, Nick, Lydia, Andrew, and 3-year old Phoenix Fitzgerald were asleep inside their rental house unaware that a fire had started in their attached garage. Thick black smoke began to roll through the house.

Two unknown “good Samaritans” driving by saw the smoke and pulled over. They desperately started banging on the windows and yelling for the family to wake up and get out. Within a matter of seconds the flames grew and completely consumed the front of the house.

Forcing open a window, the Samaritans jumped through to try to pull out the family. They could hear people inside and called for them to come to the window but unfortunately the family fled to escape through the front door, which unbeknownst to them was engulfed in flames. The Samaritans were not able to get to them.

Long Beach Firefighters came on the scene shortly after 7am.

For more than 20 terrifying minutes, neighbors stood by helplessly believing the Fitzgeralds were trapped and perishing inside.

But by the grace of God, all four family members were able to escape out of the back door (after discovering there was no escape from the front) and were huddled up against the backyard wall until firefighters were able to bring them out to safety. Neighbors burst into applause, relieved to see they were safe. Their lives were spared, but they lost nearly all of their possessions.

Nick and Lydia moved from Temecula a few years ago to help take care of their adult daughter, who has pancreatic cancer, and both of their ailing parents. Also, after raising three children of their own, Nick and Lydia recently adopted their granddaughter, Phoenix, and started their parenting journey all over again.

Andrew, the Fitzgerald's 30-year old son, had established a small painting and fence building business. All of his tools were destroyed in the fire.

Andrew had just started a painting job the day before. Unbelievably, moments after the fire department left, Andrew’s client arrived at the burnt house and fired him on the spot for not showing up to work that morning. While standing in the charred and smoking rubble, she demanded her money back. Andrew’s wallet and credit cards had melted from the fire but somehow the cash had miraculously survived. Dejected, he gave it all back to her.

Their friend and neighbor across the street is a pastor at their church, Arbor Road. He has organized a fundraising campaign through Givebutter to help the Fitzgeralds get back on their feet. Their losses far exceed what their insurance is able to cover to the tune of $120,000. $6,000 of that is for new tools for Andrew.

Would you consider blessing this family and contribute to helping them build back their lives?

Also, if you have any painting or fencing needs in LA/Orange County, you can reach out to Andrew at ajfitzy22@gmail.com.

Thank you for your generosity!

P.S. If you are the "Good Samaritans" who showed up and woke this family up, you are heroes. The family would love the opportunity to say thank you. Feel free to reach out to me (Jeff) at jeffzabelmusic@gmail.com.

Help the Fitzgerald family

By Jeff Zabel

Help the Fitzgerald family

Long Beach Residents endure traumatic loss