Fundraiser launched for Town of Superior family that lost home to fire

A fundraising appeal has been launched to help a Town of Superior family that lost their home and a family member in a fire early on Thanksgiving morning.
The Downey Fire Recovery Fund was created on Thursday on the “gofund me” website, with a goal of raising $20,000. It had reached more than $8,500 by midevening Friday.
The fire, reported just before 1:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, quickly destroyed the home at 6330 S. Darrow Road, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said. One family member, Zebulun Downey, 28, was unable to escape. His body was recovered later in the day.
Mark Pierson of Northford, Conn., started the fund. His daughter, Shelby, and son-in-law, Judah, were among those who escaped the fire, he wrote on the site. Judah and Zebulun’s father, Lee Downey, also escaped, but the three “were only able to get out with the clothes on their backs,” Pierson wrote.
Lee Downey’s wife, Marilyn Downey, died on Oct. 8 after a brief illness, according to an obituary that appeared in the Superior Telegram.
“My hope is that the money collected here helps ease some of their burden,” Pierson wrote on the gofundme site. “I know (it will) never erase their pain.”
The online site is at gofundme.com/DowneyFireFund.