Kristen Nelson's Jacobsen Street home in Sayreville was destroyed by a fire Monday afternoon. Watch video
SAYREVILLE -- When she thinks of all that was lost when a fire tore through her Sayreville home on Monday, it's not the big things Kristin Nelson misses the most.
It's the teddy bears she gave her 12-year-old daughter Jailyn for Easter. It's the pictures of her mother and her daughter's father, who both died when she was pregnant with Jailyn.
Those items are irreplaceable. There are no duplicate photos. A teddy bear given to Jailyn from the American Red Cross will suffice, but it's not the same one she cuddled with under her pillow every night.
"Everything I worked so hard for, nobody thinks this is going to happen to them, and now I can say we have nothing except for each other," said Nelson, 31, a single mother for 13 years. "It's just another thing we're going to have to get through, another bump in the road."
There are several fundraising efforts, including an online gofundme page, underway since the fire, which destroyed 11 Jacobsen Street on Monday afternoon. Nelson said the outpouring of support has her overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude.
"These are people who don't know me, they don't know my child, they don't know anyone," she said. "I can't believe it. I'm still in shock. I think I'm going to be in shock for a while."
The gofundme page, set up by Nelson's sister-in-law, Lindsey Nelson, has raised more than $2,900 since Monday. A drop-off location for donated clothing, household items and gift cards was set up at Hair Together on Route 9 in Sayreville.
A local fitness center, the Max Challenge, plans on donating a backpack full of school supplies to Jailyn, Tamara Calmon, the fitness center's manager, said.
Kim Carlson, secretary at Saint Stanislaus Kostka School, said school administrators are in the planning stages of a fundraiser and will talk more about it when teachers return next week.
"I can't even explain how thankful and grateful we are there are kind people left in the world," Nelson said.
She said she also doesn't know how she'll ever repay the police officers, firefighters and fellow neighbors who jumped into action Monday afternoon.
"I wish I were a millionaire because I would buy them everything in the world," Nelson said. "With all the things going on in the world, especially when it comes to police officers or anyone in public service, it's disgraceful. The first people you call is the police. These people risked their lives to save my house and my family. ... These people didn't have to do anything, they're amazing."
Sayreville police Patrolman Brian Gay and First Assistant Fire Chief George Gawron were among the first at the scene. Jailyn had already jumped out a second-floor window and met the officers who arrived. She told them four more people still needed to escape, including a 1-month-old baby.
Gawron and Gay, along with several neighbors, helped get them out of a second-floor window safely. The infant's mother dropped Gawron her baby, which was in a carrier.
Jailyn, 12, and her mother Kristin Nelson, lost everything in a fire on Monday. (Photo courtesy of Kristin Nelson).It was also Jailyn's quick thinking and knowledge she learned from a fire safety course that was life-saving. Nelson said Jailyn was taught to make a plan in the case of a fire, and that's what she did: Jailyn called 911, instructed everyone to get into the bathroom, closed the door, put a towel under the door and then she jumped first to meet the officers.
"She's amazing and does not have one scratch on her," Nelson said.
Nelson was at work in Somerville when she got the call about the fire. Jailyn, Nelson's cousin and her cousin's three children -- a 2-year-old, infant and a daughter who is 8 or 9 -- were at the home. Nelson rents the top floor of the two-family home where officials said the fire originated. Her cousin was only visiting at the home and does not live there full-time.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Gawron said on Monday.
Nelson said when she did a final walk-through of the house to see if anything was salvageable, she found a couple of photos still intact. The only other thing not destroyed was her Bible.
"It's very strange," she said. "I said to myself, 'OK God, I hear you, but right now we need to get it together.'"
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.