Dearest Friends, Family, and Community Members,

I am writing this on behalf of my sister Sam's family and her neighbors, who were in a multi-family residence. On Monday, January 19, 2026, at 11:23 p.m., Sam, Josh, and their 2-year-old, Sandie, Toby, and Adam experienced a devastating house fire. While we are profoundly grateful that all six of them have survived, including all of their pets, one of them was med-flighted due to 3rd degree burns. They have absolutely lost everything to extreme smoke, a heavy fire, and significant water damage. The person remains hospitalized, and the other two families are in immediate need of necessities as they navigate this unexpected crisis. Your support will directly provide them with kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom items, as well as everything a two-year-old needs, financial support due to being out of work, and medical bills. Due to the severity of the fire, we have been advised by emergency responders to discard all baby gear. These items are contaminated with toxic residues that pose a serious respiratory risk to the child, as they expose the child to hazardous levels of carbon and smoke particulates, requiring us to replace everything from scratch. I thank you for your incredible kindness and for standing with the 3 families during this unimaginable time.

With gratitude,

La Keta

(On behalf of all 3 families)

We have created an online photo album so you can view the photos of this unfortunate disaster.

https://myalbum.com/album/Fowa67vf2UVA2Q/?invite=0a4a0226-8678-4a7d-878d-5f61dc488fb7

To give some information on what happened late Monday evening, while the majority of the city was fast asleep. I have listed this information below for those who are not familiar with this incident:

• One resident who was awake during the fire rescued his brother from a separate lower unit of the home just in time.
• Firefighters used ladders to rescue two additional occupants from the second floor of the home.
• 6 residents were displaced from the home.
• Firefighters rescued multiple cats from the residence.
• Due to extreme temperatures, additional resources were requested to assist the 35 firefighters on the scene.
• Several area departments, including Lakeside Fire Department, Beloit Fire Department, Evansville Fire Department, Footville Fire Department, and Fort Atkinson Fire Department, assisted the Janesville Fire Department.

Thank you to ALL the Fire Departments that assisted in this extreme situation, the Red Cross, the Janesville Police Department, the 911 Dispatch Center Staff, Janesville Transit, Janesville Public Works, and Alliant Energy.

01-21-2026:

We will post updates as we know more. We want to express our thanks in advance for any donation you may be able to make, for sharing our link with your friends and family, and/or for contacting us to make an in-kind donation.

To view the news articles, see below:

https://www.wmtv15news.com/2026/01/23/three-families-rebuild-after-devastating-janesville-house-fire-brother-saves-brother/

(I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to Tabitha at WMTV-15 News for taking the time to come down and conduct the interview on Thursday. Your support means so much to us.)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AZsS13jcs/

(Photos via Janesville Fire Fighters Local 580, Janesville News Group, and personal photos taken)