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Firefighters Surprise Family with Presents After Christmas Day House Fire

Posted at 1:05 PM, Dec 27, 2013
and last updated 2013-12-27 13:26:12-05

WYOMING, Mich– Firefighters come to the rescue of a family not once, but twice, by delivering presents after they lost everything in a house fire.

It wasn’t a red sleigh, but a bright red fire truck. And while they may not exactly be Santa Claus, they’re pretty close.

The last time Carolyn Foreman saw Kentwood and Wyoming firefighters, it was Christmas morning, at her home on Innwood Drive in Kentwood.

“To open my door and see firemen in my front yard, it was very scary,” said Foreman.

Foreman and her three children made it out ok. But they lost everything including Christmas presents.

So Friday morning, through a coordinating effort with Toys for Tots and area police, the firefighters delivered gifts to Foreman’s sisters home where the family is staying. Foreman, who is raising a family and working towards her masters in social work was overcome with emotions. Foreman and her children, ages 16, 14 and 11, couldn’t believe their eyes.

“It’s so many mixed emotions going through me right now that there are people out there that really care,” she explained.

“I actually started getting a little teary eyed,” said Kentwood firefighter, Tim O’ Conner

“I mean you think about your own kids, you think about the joys of Christmas and the joy of tearing [presents] open and seeing what’s been given to you. And to do that for these kids, it kind of made a second Christmas for us.”

“The firefighters were awesome,” said Foreman. “It was nothing but pure compassion.”

Foreman says this has inspired her to return the favor and pay it forward to someone else.