TEMPLE – People are rallying around a Temple family who lost their home to fire last week.

A yard sale and bake sale are planned Saturday and a family day is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 6, to help Ben and Michelle Sullivan and their children, Shane, 9, and Garrett, 4.

The blaze gutted the house on Intervale Road and leveled the barn. The Sullivans lost most of their belongings and their dog, Maggie, in the fast-moving blaze last Wednesday. The fire is believed to have started in the wiring of an air conditioner.

Lorie Sullivan, Ben’s mother, said the family is doing all right. “They don’t know what they’re doing but they’re doing OK,” she said.

The family is staying with her on Day Mountain Road until the insurance company decides what to do, she said.

Donna Eaton of Farmington, who took care of Garrett, has started collecting items for a yard sale. All the proceeds from that sale and a bake sale will go to the family, she said.

Some items are going directly to the family such as a futon and coffee table.

Eaton was busy collecting items dropped off Tuesday at her home. The sale will take place there from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 156 Holley Road in Farmington.

Lorie Sullivan said coworkers and friends of the family at Franklin Memorial Hospital are planning a family fun day from 12:30 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Elks Hall in West Farmington.

There will be volley ball, baseball and horseshoes from 12:30 to 4:30; a chicken barbecue from 4:30 to 7, and an adult square dance from 7:30 to 10. A silent auction is also scheduled.

“Everybody has just been overwhelming with what they’ve done,” Sullivan said. “I just can’t say enough about everybody; they’re wonderful.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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