The Boothbay community is lending a hand to the Crocker family since they lost their home on Abenaki Road in Edgecomb in a fire last month.

The Crocker family, shown here, is raising money to be used to rebuild their home in Edgecomb. Courtesy of Candie Crocker

Candie Crocker said she was working a 12-hour shift as a maternity nurse at Lincoln Health Miles Maternity in Damariscotta when the blaze ignited around 5:30 p.m. June 3.

“My neighbor called me because she saw smoke coming out of my bedroom window [and] thought my air conditioner was on fire,” Crocker said.

Soon after the loss, Crocker’s cousin Heather Witwicki created a GoFundMe campaign for the family. In less than a week, the Support Crocker Family after House Fire GoFundMe raised $45,000. As of June 11, the total was $47,533 from 425 donations.

The Crockers lost a 4 1/2-month-old puppy, five cats, a guinea pig and an African grey parrot named Sebastian, which Crocker owned for 33 years. Three dogs escaped after a neighbor got into the building to let them out.

They save some items such as handmade quilts and children’s clothing.

“We have such a wonderful community here,” Crocker said. “The whole Boothbay, Edgecomb, Southport community is amazing.”

The Boothbay Fire Department was the first to arrive, with Edgecomb, Wiscasset, Damariscotta and Newcastle also responding.

The Crocker family plans to use the GoFundMe money to offset what insurance won’t cover.

The summer tourism season has made renting an Airbnb challenging for the family, so they stayed in a cottage for three weeks to figure out what to do next. Next they moved into a 35-foot camper in the front yard of their home to oversee the property and look after their dogs and chickens.

Crocker’s son, Hunter, and his girlfriend, Chloe Arsenault, were living with the family at the time, after graduating from college this year. Crocker’s daughter, Emily, was also living in the home and is staying in the camper. Hunter and Chloe have moved in with Chloe’s family.

Bruce Orne, the partner of the Crocker family’s niece, is expected to start rebuilding the house from the remains of the frame.

A community baseball game this weekend will benefit the project. The Boothbay Regional High School alum baseball game is at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Community Field in Boothbay, with Candie and her husband, Ed, each coaching an alum team.

Crocker said another fundraiser is planned at the Julia Gagnon concert at 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, at Brady’s restaurant in Boothbay Harbor with Matt James from FM 92.3 The Moose as host.

Around the same time as the Crocker’s house fire, a fire broke out in the Baker family home in Topsham. They also set up a GoFundMe page with a goal of $25,000 and have so far raised $22,250 from 172 donations. No one was home when the fire started.