Community comes together for Rochester man displaced by Garson Avenue house fire

ROCHESTER N.Y. (WROC) – On Tuesday a home caught fire on Garson Avenue in Rochester leaving four people displaced .

Jonathan Quinones is a relative of one of the residents living at the home. He says that night he recalls someone alerting him that his uncle Mitchell might be in danger.

“I didn’t know what was going on, so I checked the messaging group and had found out that FireWire had reported a fire on Mitchell’s house and I just got on the radio to see if I could reach mitch,” Quinones said.

Quinones said tension was building as he didn’t initially hear from his uncle. That is until 30 minutes later he got a response on the radio.

“Jonathan are you there? Everything in the attic was just totally destroyed. The only thing that made it was this radio,” said Palermo via radio.

“Ironically it’s the one he hates, like, it’s his least favorite radio and it was the one that kind of got him a lifeline out into the community because he didn’t have a phone,” Quinones said.

Quinones said when it comes to his uncle Mitchell, radio is his whole life.

“If you see Mitch, he’s walking around with a radio. He’s talking about the radio. He’s talking about an antenna. It’s amateur radio. So, it’s a federally licensed amateur radio ban that he operates on, and it’s everything to him,” he said.

Quinones said prior to this situation, his uncle joined a not-for-profit organization called the NYS GMRS Alliance, which is a club for radio enthusiasts. Leaders of the group found out about the fire and have put together a GoFundMe to get Mitchell back on his feet. So far, they’ve reached roughly $1,100 with a goal of $10,000.

“He’s beside himself. He (Mitchell) can’t believe that there’s a community outreach for him. He’s thankful and he’s just looking forward to getting back on the radio and expressing his thanks to everyone who contributed even in thought and prayer,” Quinones said.

Quinones said his uncle is now in temporary housing through the Red Cross and is in the process of finding somewhere to live that’s more permanent.

To donate via GoFundMe, click here.

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