SPOKANE, Wash. — Backyard Public House, a restaurant in Spokane, is hosting a fundraiser on Tuesday for two people who lost everything in the deadly Browne's Addition apartment fire.
In a post on Facebook, the pub said that they're a tight-knit family and they are asking people to help those who were affected by the fire by coming in to get dinner and drinks. They will be donating 10% of their sales from the entire day to help the victims get back on their feet.
They are also setting up a clothing drive and other programs to help them recover, along with accepting cash donations for the victims in the restaurant today.
"We wanted to make sure that we could help as fast as possible," said Mike Alverson, General manager of The Backyard.
Joy McClarey, an employee at Backyard Public House, worked all summer to afford her first apartment and has just moved into the building a month ago. She lost everything in her apartment from her clothes to all her furniture. She currently has a GoFundMe that has raised over over $4,000 with a goal of $5,000.
"It has been an amazing feeling knowing that people that I know, people that I don't know, are there for me," said McClarey.
Tiffany Manor Apartments on W. 2nd Avenue in Spokane's Browne's Addition neighborhood caught fire at about 2:30 a.m. Monday. Two people died and a firefighter was injured in the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and the Spokane Police Department's Major Crimes Unit is treating the case as a potential homicide.
GoFundMe has tracked several campaigns for the victims of the Browne's fire. Overall across eight campaigns people have raised $23,000 for those recovering from this tragedy.
Here is a full list of active GoFundMe's:
- Help Clayton and Tiffani get back on their feet
- Violent Fire Took All of Tori's Belongings
- Help Nicole and Gus Rebuild from Disastrous Fire
- Recovery After Terrible Fire
- Fire Recovery Assistance and Donations for Casey
- Help Marye after fire destroys everything
- Help Joy Recover From a Devastating Fire
- Up in flames (please help my dad!)