Man Loses Everything in House Fire While Volunteering at Villas Fire

NORTH WILDWOOD – When Matt Maxwell, 61, an American Red Cross volunteer left his 24th Street apartment at 4 a.m. Thur. March 29, he thought he’d be back home in a few hours. Maxwell was trained to respond to disasters such as the Villas house fire that caused him to leap into action to provide support.
Little did he know when he returned to his apartment here, he’d be coming back to a personal tragedy. Maxwell’s home was destroyed by fire while he was ministering to the needs of another family.
The fire that destroyed Maxwell’s apartment also destroyed three other apartments and left seven people homeless; including two children.
According to fire department reports the fire, which was called in at 5:54 a.m., was ruled accidental.
“The main residence, in the front, was totally destroyed,” North Wildwood Fire Chief Jeffrey Cole, Jr. told the Herald. The front apartment was Maxwell’s.
Maxwell, who has volunteered for the past four years with the American Red Cross, said he left his house at 4:10 a.m. to assist with the Villas fire.
“When I got to that location, the gentleman involved in that fire was hospitalized,” said the Red Cross volunteer, “so I went to the hospital (Cape Regional Medical Center) to do an interview with him to make arrangements with him before he was released from the hospital.”
Maxwell left Cape Regional and arrived at his 24th Street home in North Wildwood a few minutes before 6 a.m.
“My neighbor from the back was beating on my door saying my house was on fire. He thought I was in there.”
Maxwell said he did not see flames or smoke coming from his apartment. “And then I think I probably made the tragic mistake of opening up the door, because the wind was blowing towards the house.”
Looking inside the apartment, Maxwell could see his recliner in flames. “I knew I had a fire extinguisher in the kitchen so I went to the kitchen to get the fire extinguisher and I sprayed and sprayed. I thought it was something that could be put out.”
Realizing his attempts to put the fire out were futile Maxwell made his way out the back door and to safety.
Maxwell, still dressed in his American Red Cross vest, was able to navigate his apartment in the dark.
“I’m one of those people who knows where my obstacles are. I knew step around, go straight, and reach to my right…”
Maxwell’s involvement with the American Red Cross started four years ago when he was “tired of not doing anything.” Retired from the U.S. Army after a 20 year stint, he shared that after his retirement, he prayed, “Lord, please increase my territory.” An advertisement in the Herald for Red Cross volunteers led Maxwell to the organization. “I said, Lord, are you trying to tell me something?”
During his tenure with the Red Cross, Maxwell’s volunteer responsibilities have grown from helping with blood drives to becoming Emergency Response Manager for Disaster Services. He also serves as an instructor and as well as the Mass Care Feeding Lead for the state of New Jersey.
While Maxwell’s training taught him to be well-prepared for helping others deal with the aftermath of a fire, his training and his faith are helping him deal with his own crisis…
“Stuff can be replaced,” the divorced father of one and grandfather of two, said. “Stuff is stuff. But I’ve had an outpouring from so, so many individuals and organizations to give me assistance,” he said. “I am overwhelmed with how many people are willing to step up to help someone. I am definitely blessed.”
Maxwell is not sure if his apartment will be rebuilt. “The structural integrity has to be checked out,” he noted before a decision to rebuild can be made by the building’s owner.
In the meantime, Maxwell intends to maintain his commitments to the Red Cross.
“I’m still going to do my fire calls,” he said. “This doesn’t stop me. This is just a temporary thing.”
Now that he has experienced first-hand what the people he ministers to go through, Maxwell said he now understands the side of the victim.
“I now have a feeling of what they feel like,” he said. “When I’m sitting in the van interviewing one of them and I’m saying to myself ‘You sure smell smoky,’ now I know what that smokiness feeling feels like on me.”
One facet of preparedness Maxwell has shared with people over the years is the need for fire insurance, even for renters.
“The thing that I preach to people that I did not take heed to myself is to get insurance.” Maxwell said he always intended to get insurance, but never found time to get around to it.
“The next time I get a place, even if it’s empty, it’s going to be insured,” he said. “It was always like I’ll get around to it when I get around to it, and then so many other things come up and it’s put on the back burner. Well, it moved to the front burner for me.”
A member of the Angel Visit Baptist Church, Maxwell believes that blessings will come out of the tragedy because lessons are learned.
”No lives were lost,” he said. “So maybe this is a start over point. Maybe this is a breakdown/buildup process. They always say that when things break down they are being built up by the Lord and they are built up better than they were before.”
In addition to all of his possessions being destroyed, Maxwell also lost his 18 pet goldfish.
“I’m okay,” said Maxwell. “I’m going to continue on with life, I’m going to continue on with the Red Cross. Life goes on – happily. It’s a lesson. Nothing comes easy in life at times and sometimes you really got to get hit hard to realize things. So that’s going to help me communicate better with the people.”