OBSERVER File Photo Pictured is the fire on Tuesday morning that damaged five structures on Columbus Avenue in Dunkirk. Two homes were destroyed in the blaze, including the home of five Dunkirk students.

Early Tuesday morning, five Dunkirk students should have been enjoying their final few minutes of sleep before the alarm sounded to wake them up for school.

Instead, those five students were woken up to the smell of smoke. The only alarms sounding were those of first responders arriving at the scene of a fire that spread throughout Columbus Avenue in Dunkirk.

By the time the flames were extinguished, five structures were damaged, including two homes that were completely destroyed. One of the homes ravaged was the residence of a mother of five Dunkirk students, ranging in ages from kindergarten to eighth grade. Three of the five children attend the Dunkirk Intermediate School. Their home was not where the fire began, but the flames spread so dramatically that their residence was completely destroyed anyway.

In the midst of a crisis, the five children still found their way to school that day.

A Dunkirk teacher, who volunteers as a firefighter, was in contact with the mother of the children while the fire was going on. He retrieved the five children and brought them straight to the Intermediate School.

“They wanted to be here, and mom wanted them here, which was remarkable. She knew that this was a safe place for her kids to be,” said Kim Texter, Dunkirk Intermediate School Principal.

Texter continued, “When I had put eyes on them, when they came in after they had been through this tragedy, just to see them and know that everything was OK, I couldn’t help but start crying. It was an emotional day … and it continues to be emotional.”

The oldest of the five students went to her eighth-grade class at the Secondary School down the street. She returned to the Intermediate School for lunch with her siblings. Texter said that all five children wanted to have “as normal of a day as possible” despite the circumstances. The oldest of the five students continued to check on her siblings when she was away.

The district helped get the students through the day, with what Texter called “100% effort from every single person throughout the day.”

Texter said, “The faculty, staff, social workers all just got right to work, making sure the kids were clothed, warm, fed, clean, everything that you can imagine.”

The family is now temporarily housed in a hotel while they await their next steps. The Dunkirk City School District is collecting donations of money and gift cards to aid the family. Each of the district’s schools have received donations in the days since the fire.

“Everyone from our parents to our staff all were pouring out love for the kids and the family. They wanted to know how they could help,” Texter said.

Because the family is currently housed in a hotel, donations of other items are not accepted at this time because the family does not currently have space to store them.

For a school district whose motto is “Whatever it takes,” the five students whose home was destroyed Tuesday morning still need every bit of the support the community can offer.

Donations can be offered by contacting the Dunkirk City School District at (716) 366-9300, then selecting to speak with the Superintendent’s Office from the automated menu. Donations can be made in person at the district office located at 620 Marauder Drive.