The home of local New Richland residents Shane and Olivia Service and their four boys is pictured above smoking after an adjacent trailer caught fire from a stove. More than 90 percent of the property and home were lost.
The home of the Service family is pictured smoking after an adjacent trailer caught ablaze, ignitring the house along with it.
By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
On Sunday the home of Shane and Olivia Service and their four children was damaged beyond repair in a fire, which originated in a trailer house directly adjacent to their home. Several months ago the Service family opened their home to a local handyman in need of a home. On this unfortunate evening the handyman was making a fire in a wood stove to keep warm when the flames overwhelmed the trailer before moving to the house.
The entire 100 year-old house was quickly engulfed including all of the Service’s possessions.
Olivia was home with her children when it all happened. All she could do was ‘‘grab her children and crawl out of the house.’’
Olivia was recently discharged from the hospital after undergoing foot surgery and was home Sunday evening on an IV, fighting off a sepsis infection.
In the end more than 90 percent of the home and property were lost.
The Service family has lived in Minnesota for the past six years and Olivia is currently employed at the New Richland Care Center.
Olivia’s sister, Amanda Olson, contacted the Star Eagle office asking to share the family’s gofundme page. The following is an excerpt from the page: “My sister, her husband and their boys lived a humble life; building this home and new life in Minnesota. An act of kindness turned their life upside down, leaving them with little to nothing right before the holidays… All proceeds will go to Olivia and Shane Service, and their four young boys, in an effort to rebuild their home, afford the cost of clothes and daily essentials…Thank you for reading and for all your prayers. We welcome you to kindly share this post and thank you for your help!”
In addition to the gofundme page, donations can be made at the State Bank of New Richland with checks made payable to Olivia Service. The link for the campaign follows:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/service-family-4-children-lose-home-to-fire/share?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=p_cp%20share-sheet&fbclid=IwAR0wWQzcjBxn5xr049lf4qvcWsgYMLl9B3dJ2i_fPYjPAABa2Rrl5Pjpk5k
YjPAABa2Rrl5Pjpk5k