Georgia fans raise more than 16K for Georgia assistant after house fire

The Georgia football community has rallied around assistant strength and conditioning coach Gus Felder, who lost his home in a fire on Wednesday.

Within 24 hours of the story being reported, a gofundme account set up by the Calvary Bible Church had raised more than $16,000 to get the Felder family back on its feet.

Felder noticed a strange smell in his home around 11 p.m. and found a small fire under his dryer, which was on the second floor of the home he rents. He got his wife and five children out of the house and then went back in to attempt to put the fire out himself. The fire extinguisher didn’t work and Felder called the fire department once the flames consumed the laundry room. Ultimately, the fire destroyed the second floor of the home, including the bedroom three of his children share.

The kids lost clothing and toys, but everyone was safe.

The Felder family is currently staying with fellow strength and conditioning coach John Thomas.

Thomas Settles, pastor of Calvary Bible Church, told AJC.com that the family is doing well.

“They’re comfortable for right now. They’re in a good place,” Settles told the AJC. “They’re hoping to maybe buy a house. They were renting and getting ready to close and purchase that house. Now they hope they can maybe buy another house in the same general area.”

The financial goal on the gofundme page is $40,000.

Felder usually goes to sleep early, but on Wednesday decided to stay up, read and watch a little television. Settles, who is one of Georgia’s team chaplains, told the AJC that had Felder not made that decision, this could have turned into a tragic event.

“On the outside it just looks like smoke damage,” he told the website. “But on the inside, I mean, the kids would have passed away if he hadn’t found out what was happening. It’s amazing that he caught it when he did. If he hadn’t the whole place would have gone up and the kids would have passed away.

“It’s just the grace of God. If we hadn’t have been on spring break, he would’ve had to be up by 5 and would’ve gone to bed very early and then you’d have been dealing with smoke inhalation. Truly the grace of God.”

For more Georgia news, visit UGASports.com.

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