Friends seek donations to help Calverton family that lost everything in early morning fire Thursday

A GoFundMe page has been set up to aid the Calverton family that lost everything in a devastating fire early Thursday morning.

Kelly O’Neal of Riverhead has set up the fundraising page to help Michael and Amy Runnalls and their two young daughters, who lost their home an all their possessions in a fire that broke out at about 3 a.m. Thursday.

“This couple is nothing but caring and helpful to others in any way that they can,” O’Neal wrote on GoFundMe.

Amy Runnalls is very active in Girl Scouts, O’Neal said. That’s how O’Neal met Runnalls; their daughters were in the same Girl Scout troop. Runnalls serves as “a service unit coordinator where she uses her knowledge of accounting to assist with the financial aspects of the local service unit. Every kid that has spent time with her loves her and I’m sure that goes for all adults as well.”

“I hope that everyone can help a little for this family who lost their home,” O’Neal wrote on GoFundMe, noting that the Runnalls’ daughters, ages 8 and 11, need things for school starting in less than two weeks.

A young kitten the Runnalls had rescued didn’t make it out of the fire. They lost everything, O’Neal said in a phone interview Thursday night.

“It’s all just gone. She even lost her wedding ring,” she said. “Everything is black from smoke and what wasn’t ruined by fire or smoke was ruined by water.”

Firefighters from Riverhead, Wading River and Flanders responded to the alarm on Williams Way. The fire ignited on a wood deck attached to the home and spread to the structure itself. Once it got up into the attic it spread fast, Riverhead Fire Department First Assistant Chief Kevin Brooks said this morning.

The bright light of the blaze awakened the sleeping couple, Amy Runnalls said this morning.

The Riverhead Fire Marshal said the fire is under investigation.