CLYMER — In the early morning hours of Wednesday, Dec. 4, Dennis Bittinger lost everything.

“At about 7 a.m. I got a call from a family friend saying my dad’s house was on fire and he had been burned,” Bittinger’s daughter, Jennifer Zwifka said. “That was all of the information I got. I started calling all of the hospitals, because I didn’t know where he was or how bad, or even if he was alive. I called Hamot who said he had arrived four minutes ago and asked that I call back in an hour.”

Bittinger was taken to Hamot Hospital in Erie and was discharged this past weekend. Bittinger’s house on Nazareth Road was a total loss. Zwifka said the rest of the morning after finding out where her dad was, was spent finding out exactly what happened along with what had happened to Bittinger’s dog, Goose.

“He said he woke up to the smoke detector going off and the lights not working, with the house filling with smoke,” Zwifka said. “He wasn’t sure where the fire started but he used the flashlight on his phone to try and find Goose. He said at one point he saw Goose but then couldn’t see them again and the fire was at the front door so he ended up having to kick out the side door that we haven’t used in like 40 years.”

Once he was outside, Zwifka said Bittinger looked back in, still trying to find Goose, when debris fell on him and burned him. Bittinger was able to call 911, but lost his best friend and everything else that he had as Goose did not make it out.

A Go Fund Me has been started for Bittinger to help him and the family get through this difficult time and rebuild the home when they are able.

“The house has been in the family for over 100 years,” Zwifka said. “It was his childhood home. He left it with nothing but his phone; he didn’t even have shoes on. There were many things in that house I would’ve loved to keep, and my dad is a Vietnam veteran, so all of his memorabilia has been lost. Everything is gone.”

Zwifka added that while there are many different types of veteran assistance programs for those with nowhere to go, Bittinger is not in need of those as he has somewhere to go when he gets out of the hospital. The Go Fund Me is meant to help him rebuild.

“Right now, if you look at my dad you wouldn’t know he just lost everything,” Zwifka said. “He said to me ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s lost’. Clymer is such a small community and all of the surrounding communities like Sherman and Panama and even Corry know my dad. He has done so much for others and never asked for anything. People love him, and he is just an incredible person, father and grandfather.”

As for what comes next for the family now, Zwifka said they are all still trying to wrap their heads around it and that it is very overwhelming.

“We’re just taking it day by day,” Zwifka said. “My dad does have a place to go but we don’t know if he will have to go to rehab and how long that will be. We just want to figure out how to rebuild and to rebuild on his terms.”

Already, Zwifka said people have reached out via Venmo as sometimes Go Fund Me takes in some fees for themselves and not everyone likes to use it. A benefit fund has also been established at the Clymer Community Bank, 8720 East Main Street, PO Box 10.

The Go Fund Me for Bittinger can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/help-dennis-rebuild-after-devastating-fire.