BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — Jeff Eichner is still in shock as he walks through his home in Bloomsburg, which was destroyed by fire over the weekend. Firefighters say a lithium battery caught fire while Eichner was at church.
"I followed the firetrucks down to my driveway," Jeff Eichner said.
Jeff is a professional musician. In addition to losing his trailer, Jeff lost almost everything inside of it, including his instruments.
"Upwards to around $60,000 or more, including amplifiers. I lost several keyboards, they're gone," Jeff said.
Jeff is a former principal for the Bloomsburg University Orchestra and is the bassist for the Catawissa Military Band. He has been through a lot in the past few years.
"I went from a heart attack to cancer. I got home from the nursing home for two weeks after my wife went into the nursing home, and then she died," Jeff said.
Eichner has insurance, but it won't cover most of what he lost. His children started a GoFundMe page for their father and say they are grateful for the outpouring of support.
"People are asking about clothes, letting him borrow musical instruments, giving him a place to live, it's incredible," Jade Eichner said.
"There's a lot of sadness in the world, and I really appreciate everyone who has come forward to lessen it a little bit for him," Beth Eichner said.
Jeff says he recently had another cancer scare and had not been feeling well enough to attend church.
"Yesterday, he went to church. Had he been not feeling well that day, he would have been sleeping here, probably napping while the fire came. You really can't ask for a better intervention than that," Jeffrey Eichner Jr. said.
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