RIO GRANDE – A Rio Grande couple, both first responders, were celebrating their anniversary in Florida when they received news that their Edgewood Avenue home was on fire.
Theodore “Teddy” Bohn and Courtney Bohn had just gotten off a ride at Universal Studios when the call came in. According to Bohn, the couple had not taken a honeymoon and in 11 years had never been away on their anniversary.
Their two children, ages 11 and 8, were spending a month with grandparents in Tennessee at the time of the fire and were due to start back to town on Monday, July 22, when the fire started.
According to Bohn, the fire started in the electrical unit of the dishwasher. The fire, he said, consumed the home from the floor up, causing the roof to cave in at two places. The fire also took the lives of five pets in the house: a Great Dane, a pit bull, a tabby cat, a 4-month-old Maine coon cat and a bearded lizard. The pets were being cared for by a relative.
Bohn, who is a Cape May County sheriff’s officer, is also a part-time firefighter in Sea Isle City and the vice president of the Middle Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Courtney Bohn is a full-time EMT with the Sea Isle City Ambulance Corps and a volunteer with the Middle Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
Bohn also served in the New Jersey Army National Guard, from December 2002 to December 2021. He was deployed to Iraq from July 2008 to June 2009, and to Afghanistan from January 2011 to February 2012. He is a 100% disabled veteran.
Bohn said there were some indications of a fire brewing prior to its being called in by a neighbor. He said the security cameras went out around 12:30 p.m. on July 22. At around 1:20 p.m., a UPS driver stopped his vehicle and took pictures of some flowers in a neighbor’s yard and saw smoke in the backyard of the Bohn residence.
“Both of our cars were in the driveway, so he thought we were having a barbecue,” Bohn said.
At around 3:35 p.m., a neighbor called 911 and reported smoke coming from the house.
The fire went to two alarms, involving the Rio Grande Volunteer Fire Company, Green Creek Volunteer Fire Company and Erma Volunteer Company. Bohn said the Villas Volunteer Fire Company, Cape May Court House Volunteer Fire Company and the City of Wildwood Fire Company also responded, as did the Middle Township Police Department and Ambulance Corps.
Speaking to the Herald on Friday, July 26, Bohn said the couple had been inside with the adjuster and took pictures of the interior of the house.
“We believe there is nothing left of the inside. It was completely charred from the floor up. The roof was caved in, and with all the rain, more water came,” Bohn said, adding that ceiling braces had collapsed.
He said he spoke to the solar panel company and they canceled the lease on the equipment, saying the panels would be removed.
The community has been responding to a GoFundMe page titled “Help Courtney and Teddy Restore House After Fire,” which was set up by Bohn’s sister, Rachel Stanton, and by Kara Mayer, who described herself as “like a cousin” to the family.
The couple, along with daughter Mia, 11, and son Teddy, 8, have been staying in the spare bedroom in a friend’s house.
Mayer said roughly 90% of the family’s personal possessions were lost in the fire, with only some of the parents’ clothing able to be salvaged. Stanton said United Uniforms in Rio Grande advised Bohn it would replace his sheriff’s officer uniforms.
Stanton said the children attend Lower Cape May Elementary Schools as part of the school choice program. Mia will be entering the sixth grade, and Teddy will go into fourth grade. Both suffered significant personal losses. Teddy plays hockey, wrestles and plays baseball, and Mia is a dancer. All of their personal equipment was lost in the fire.
“Mia is a dancer and gymnast, all her dance clothes and shoes,” Stanton said.
She said someone came over to the house to see what she could donate, left, and came back with beach towels and assorted toiletries. Other people have been donating gift cards, such as from ShopRite and Walmart.
Stanton said people also have been dropping off donations at the Piece of Cake bakery in Cape May Court House and at the 609 Shooting Range and United Uniforms in Rio Grande. Piece of Cake is owned by Bohn’s mother, Cyndi Bohn.
“Some people are offering couches and things like that, but there is nowhere to put it until they know where they are going,” she said.
Stanton said family members have been helping with the task of finding a place to live while the Bohns’ home is rebuilt.
“We have phone calls out for rentals,” she said.
Asked if they planned to rebuild their home on Edgewood Avenue, Bohn responded, “Absolutely.”
“We plan to rebuild on the site that is our home — we’re not planning on moving anywhere,” he said. “We worked very hard to get that house, and it’s where we want to be. It’s at the end of a dead-end street on almost 2 acres — and it’s a good neighborhood, we love all the neighbors.”
Bohn said the fire has been a life-changing experience from which he hopes others can learn a lesson. He said the Middle Township and Rio Grande fire companies held a joint drill a few days after the fire, and he had a chance to thank volunteer first responders for their help.
He also talked about the seriousness of a house fire.
“(Firefighters) who say they can’t wait for structural fire, who say it’s our turn for a structural fire, they don’t say that when they see their house or friend’s house on fire. They don’t want to see another structural fire after that,” he said.
As of 3 p.m. on July 26, the GoFundMe page for the Bohns had raised more than $16,000. Bohn called the response amazing and overwhelming, especially for a family that never thought about asking for help.
“We are the type to give help and not think about getting anything in return,” he said. “But it’s been overwhelming, the generosity toward our family. We are so grateful.”
Stanton said the GoFundMe proceeds will go directly to the Bohns’ bank account. Visit https://gofund.me/948751ef.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
