Devastating house fires last week in Wellsville and Willing
By Andrew Harris
Saturday July 23, 2022 won’t be forgotten by many, anytime soon. A house on Earley Street in Wellsville erupted into flames at 2am; forcing Lexi Coats, her young child, and two dogs to evacuate and watch the home become fully engulfed. Not long after first responders put that fire out and cleared the scene, another emergency call from the Graves Road in Willing toned out. Macey Smith and James Waters were fortunate that the fire did not harm the seven children in the house at the time of the fire, but almost no material objects survived the blaze.
Very few possessions were salvageable, except the things that matter the most: No lives were lost and no one was seriously injured in either blaze. Lexi Coats of Wellsville had this to say a day after the fire:
“Thank you to my friends and family for reaching out and making sure my little family is okay. We are doing our best to navigate this nightmare.
But more importantly – thank you to the first responders who did their absolute best to save our home and comfort us during the most trying time I’ve ever endured. I cannot express enough thanks to you all. Autumn Dixon + Lucas Greene, thanks for giving Brinley all your attention and checking on us every few minutes.
Gregory, Beth Day- thanks for housing my dogs and I this morning and always being here. I love you.
Everyone that knows Brinley, knows she has this nasty, raggedy “rabbit” that she’s carried since she was born… I hate it, she loves it. Nothing can get rid of this thing because.. Dylon Day went out of his way to make sure our beloved “Mama Foofoo” made it out safe and sound. After a long bath, she’ll be ready to rock n roll. She appreciated that more than you know – I’m sure. And Kayla Day for running in and giving us the biggest hug first and giving Miah some lovin’s 
Again, thank you everyone. It’s special to know you have so many people in your corner “
You can help Lexi and her young family recover with a donation:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/txfjh-please-help-this-family-rebuild-their-lives
In Willing, another young family is picking up the pieces and trying to get on the road to recovery from a fire that destroyed their Graves Road home. Macey Smith and James Waters were able to escape that early morning fire with out loss of life but they lost everything else. Smith’s longtime best buddy Brianne Lumia has started a GoFundMe operation to help the family with immediate expenses. Lumia explained that even small donations help a lot and if you don’t like the GoFundMe approach, you can contact her about direct donations, click here to contact her on Facebook.
“I’m asking to help relieve the stress of costs for clothes, food, and whatever else they may need in order to live until insurance can cover the rest. Any amount will help! If there are other ways you wish to help you can reach out to me through my Facebook. Thank you so much.”
Visit the GoFundMe page to help Macey and
https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-macey-james-and-family
