'They were closer than family': Weymouth cancer patient loses 11 animals in house fire

WEYMOUTH − Coming home from a cancer consultation in New York, a Weymouth woman expected to see her two dogs standing at her window waiting for her.

Instead, she and her husband were greeted by black smoke and a house on fire.

“Usually, my two little doggies would be sitting on the bay window waiting for me, and for us to come home,” Jennifer Inzana Young said.

The dogs, Bentley and Levi, died in the fire, as did Young's eight cats and a foster cat. Other foster cats survived the fire and are recovering. One cat ran off and hasn't been found.

Young, 47, has Stage 4 colon cancer. In the past four years, she has undergone about 100 rounds of treatment. For her, helping animals is an escape.

She has been the president of the South Shore Humane Society for the last three years and runs a mobile spay and neutering clinic, as well as having a full-time job at the state Department of Transportation.

“My passion for helping animals and helping people that need help with their animals is something that has given me purpose to my life, and it has been something that has helped me to get through cancer,” Young said.

What happened at her Weymouth home Oct. 19?

Memories of the fire, which happened Oct. 19, are still fresh in her mind, she said. Young was returning from New York and her husband, Charles Young, was picking her up from a train Amtrak station.

“He Facetimed me earlier last Thursday, showing a video of them waiting at the window," Jennifer said. "And I talked to them and said, ‘I’ll be home soon, boys!'”

When Charles opened their front door, they were met by a wall of smoke. Their kitchen had caught fire. Charles ran into the home and began pulling animals from the flames.

Jennifer performed CPR on the three animals that her husband pulled out.

“I don’t really care about my house. I mean, I love my house, but if my whole entire house was burned down to the ground I wouldn't care if I was able to get all of my animals out alive,” Jennifer said. “Being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer I assumed was going to be the worst part of my life, and the worst news I would ever get in my life, and then this.”

The fire destroyed the kitchen and left the rest of the house unlivable. Young is undergoing chemotherapy and cannot be exposed to the soot inside the house.

The couple are staying in temporary housing provided by their insurance. Jennifer said firefighters believe the fire started after a pet accidentally turned on the stove.

‘They were closer than family’

The loss of both her home and her pets has been challenging for Jennifer and her family.

Charles said the animals “were closer than family. They gave nothing but love and asked for nothing in return.”

Jennifer said her 12-year-old stepdaughter considered the pets family. The youngster was close to a cat named Rosco that died in the fire.

“These animals were in many ways her brothers and sisters. One of the cats, Rosco, she would call him her best friend,” Jennifer said. “That cat loved her, she loved that cat. I’ve never seen anything like it. They just bonded immediately to each other."

The community responds, in a big way, and how you can help

After the fire, people around the South Shore stepped up in a big way. A GoFundMe online fundraiser was set up to raise money for her family's needs and for veterinary costs for the treatment of the surviving animals.

As of Thursday afternoon, almost $52,000 had been raised, with donations still being accepted. The goal is $55,000.

Apart from the fundraiser, Jennifer is also asking for help finding a cat, Kevin, who ran away from the house during the fire. Kevin is black with skin patches behind his ear. Jennifer is asking anyone with information to call 781-843-5838.

“It’s amazing the kind people in this world still when everybody on the news thinks that everybody is not nice anymore and there’s no sense of community," Charles said. "There truly is still a sense of community out there.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Weymouth woman with cancer returns home as fire kills 11 animals