Electrical Fire Burns Down CrossFit Affiliate in Pennsylvania, GoFundMe Launches with Local Affiliate Support
On the night of June 29, Donna Fleming headed out for a motorcycle ride with her husband, as it was her night off from running Amica CrossFit in Matamoras, PA. She had just sat down to eat, when her phone rang.
- “I got the call from my trainer Peter Sadler, he said, “Uh, Donna the gym is on fire. Right away my husband took the phone because I lost it and he was able to keep a level head. At first we thought how bad could it get if the fire department is only 2 blocks away but …”
Fleming watched the whole building burn down on FaceTime, unable to do anything, she said the entire gym was gone within the span of 15 minutes.
- “It happened so fast. Apparently the mats are like gasoline and I was not aware of it. It was ruled electrical. And we lost everything. Right now we are waiting on insurance.”
The 36-year-old, who has two kids, has been doing CrossFit for eight years and opened Amica CrossFit four years ago in 2018 as a passion project. Fleming said the strength of the CrossFit community has already come through and shown their support. Fleming said Mikala Brown, who owns Center for Strength CrossFit, has started a GoFund Me and CrossFit Honesdale is loaning her equipment so her members can continue working out outdoors under a tent as Fleming hunts for a new location.
- “Our hopes are to rebuild and get back to our spot but for now I set up an outdoor gym under a big tent with limited equipment until I can find a temporary indoor space and my insurance comes through.”
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