CHERRY CREEK, N.Y. - A Cherry Creek family could really use some help after a rough October.
“I just wanted to get the girls out. I was really scared because they didn't know what was going on. They were doing school," says mom Debbie Banas.
Debbie Banas was busy homeschooling her four daughters Thursday when she saw smoke.
"We just ran out of the house," she says. "It was really scary. Really scary. The girls are still pretty upset about it."
The girls are staying with their grandparents while mom and dad live in a camper they are borrowing from neighbors.
"It's frustrating because I just want my babies home. And, I can't in a camper," explained Debbie Banas.
The family was renting the Cherry Creek home in hopes of buying it this winter. Now, they must move out.
"This black cloud just for some reason ain't lifting," says dad Chad Banas.
Chad Banas hasn't seen his daughters since the fire.
"It's just been a horrible month," he says. "I no longer celebrate twelve months of the year. I only celebrate eleven because October doesn't exist to me anymore."
Chad Banas lost his job at Tonawanda Coke less than two weeks before the fire.
"I really haven't had time to sit down and I guess process the whole thing. So, I kind of just, I get up, and I just keep busy. I try to go to work to make money, I try to rebuild what I can, save what I can, and I go to bed. I pass out. I don't go to bed because I'm tired, I go to bed because I'm passed out and exhausted," he says.
Chad Banas has been able to get some work. The EPA brought him back as a temporary electrician at Tonawanda Coke to help close it down safely. For now, he's relying on the generosity of family, friends and neighbors until he can get back on track.
"It's tough, but I don't really have a chance to really think about coping with it because I still have to go make money. I have to support my wife and have to try to find a house to get my kids back to, so we have a family again," said Chad Banas.
Chad's brother started a GoFundMe page with a goal of $20,000. They need to replace everything, and the girls lost all their school supplies and computers.