UPDATED: Optimists helping burned-out family

Updated at 2:30 p.m. on March 18, 2019

The Brillion News

BRILLION – A Brillion family lost everything but their lives and the clothes they were wearing when a fire swept through and gutted their home in the Brillion mobile home park on the evening of Friday, March 15.

The Brillion Fire Department started a drive on Saturday to prompt donations of clothing and household items for the Perea family.

Monetary donations for the Perea family – two parents and three children – are being accepted at the State Bank of Chilton.

Donations can be sent to: State Bank of Chilton C/O: Brillion Optimist Club, Perea Family account 103 N Main St Brillion, WI 54110

Monetary donations may also be dropped off at State Bank of Chilton locations in Brillion, Chilton, Sherwood, Stockbridge or Milwaukee.

Brillion Fire Chief Joe Diener said the fire call came in at 6:01 p.m. Friday.

Firefighters from Brillion, Potter and Reedsville responded and managed to keep the fire from spreading to the family’s garage or another home nearby. The five family members were all safe, as was the family’s dog. Brillion Police, Brillion ambulance and the Calumet County Sheriff’s Department all worked at the fire scene.

The family’s older son told The Brillion News that the family found a place to stay. They were removing possessions that survived the fire on Saturday, but Chief Diener said “they have nothing” that was not destroyed or smoke damaged.