JOPPA, Md. — Images of the inferno at the house on Anchor Drive tell only part of the story as Ted O’Brien returned from a short walk and discovered his home going up in flames.
“He opened up. Heavy smoke rolled out. He tried to enter, because he was trying to rescue his dog. However, he was forced out, because of heavy smoke and heat,” Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire told us at the scene.
O’Brien also lost his family photos, heirlooms and most of his belongings with damage to the house and its contents estimated at $750,000.
Towne Grill & Pub to the rescue
A month later, the Towne Grill & Pub is hosting a fundraiser on Friday to help a relative stranger.
Tracy Sandridge owns the business.
“I did not know Ted before his house burned down, but he is part of Rumsay Island in which I live one block away from him,” said Sandridge, “We could see the flames from my home, and I feel like it was our duty to help him. All the girls agreed.”
A group of seven women that call themselves the Pub Club… a beacon of positivity.
“We’re just a group of really close friends that do a lot for the community,” explained Sandridge, We do park cleanup. We do fires. We do community events. Anything the community needs, that’s what we do.”
The Pub Club has nearly three dozen baskets provided by area merchants to raffle off for the O’Brien family, it’ll hold an hourly 50/50 raffle and the grill and pub will donate a portion of its food sales to O’Brien, much as it has for other fire victims in the community, mindful that many difficult days will lie ahead before he can rebuild.
“We have to be quick about the fundraisers we do, because the insurance company doesn’t come in quickly,” said Sandridge, “It takes three months to a year for them actually to give the person a payout for their home, and for that three months to a year, the recipient---the don’t have anything. They don’t have clothes. They don’t have money. They don’t even have shoes. They have nothing.”
The Towne Grill and Pub is located in the Joppatowne Shopping Center on Joppa Farm Road and tonight’s event runs from five o’clock to closing around 1:30 in the morning.
