UPDATE: Fundraisers being planned for 3 killed in Waterloo fire

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (IA)

March 17--WATERLOO -- The community continues to comes to grips with the loss of three members of a Waterloo family, including two children in the Cedar Falls School District, following a fire in a home early Thursday.

On Friday, news was released that the mother of the two children killed, Amber Dawn Everman, 33, died at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, according to authorities.

Two of Everman's children -- Amari Burkett, 9, and Ava Everman, 6 -- were pronounced dead on Thursday, according to fire officials. Both were open-enrolled into Orchard Hill Elementary in Cedar Falls, where Ave was a kindergartner and Amari was a third-grader.

Firefighters pulled the mother and two children from the upstairs level of their burning home at 1815 Commercial St. after a passerby spotted smoke shortly after 4 a.m. A third older child escaped the fire by climbing through a window at the back of the house.

Authorities haven't determined how the fire started. Fire Chief Pat Treloar said the blaze began in the living room, and fire officials are still investigating. The property's insurance carrier is also sending an investigator who will collaborate with the city fire marshal, which is standard practice.

Meanwhile, members are left grieving and looking for answers.

"It's a sad, sad story, a sad end. I just think why, how can this be," Ashley Cahalan, Everman's cousin, said Friday.

Cahalan, who lived in Stout, heard the news of the fire through family.

"We grew up together, a lot of childhood memories," Cahalan said. She said when they were younger, Cahalan, Everman and Everman's sister would play the Lion King videogame and Barbie dolls when she came to town.

"She cut the hair off one of my Barbies, and I held a grudge against her. I finally decided to let that grudge go," Cahalan said.

The cousins lost touch with each other after Cahalan moved to North Dakota, but they would still see each other when she returned to Iowa for family functions.

"It's never easy to lose one person, let alone two children. They were so young. It's very heartbreaking and hard to wrap your head around," Cahalan said.

Five dogs and a cat also died in the fire. Six other adult dogs and three puppies that were in the cellar survived and are currently being sheltered at the Cedar Bend Humane Society. Animal control officers said the surviving dogs weren't injured because there wasn't any smoke or fire in the basement.

The community is coming out to support the surviving family members. A relative has set up a fundraiser at YouCaring.com to collect money for funeral and medical expenses.

Local businesses are also coming forward.

New Adventures Bar, Grill, Arcade on Fletcher Avenue is collecting donations, said co-owner Dustin Newhoff.

"We are big into the family aspect of things and helping out the community. Want to help out the family," Newhoff said.

Newhoff said his establishment is partnering with Jay Wolfe, who operates MaidPro, for a benefit show in the future. The businesses had organized a similar event in January for families of three young men who died in a Cedar Falls crash, and some 200 people attended.

A date for the benefit hasn't been set, but the public can still make donations at the establishment, and MaidPro is accepting donations, Newhoff said.

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