A single father from Buffalo who recently lost his wife to COVID suffered a house fire during the blizzard 'that took my last of everything,' including his wife's ashes

• A Buffalo, New York, single father lost his wife's ashes amid a blaze during a historic winter storm.
• Gary Ransom said that the fire and storm "took my last of everything," including his home and dogs.

Brianna Ransom, a nurse in Buffalo, New York, was in the middle of a grueling 96-hour shift at the Erie County Medical Center through Christmas when the worst local winter blizzard in almost 50 years dealt her family immeasurable, compounded loss.

Her father, Gary Ransom, had hunkered down with his two young daughters, in their house, using their stove to keep warm on December 23 amid a brutal winter storm that swept Erie County, New York, over Christmas weekend and left at least 34 dead and many relying on the help of strangers to survive.

By Christmas Eve, the family took shelter at a neighboring bus station. Hours later, Gary Ransom received a call that his house was on fire.

The Buffalo fire department and police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"There was so much snow they couldn't get down the street to stop the fire any faster and the house fire hydrant was frozen," Brianna Ransom told Insider Wednesday.

It was yet another heartbreaking loss for the father of five, who had lost his wife, Keionna Ransom, to COVID-19 complications in January 2022.

"It just saddens me that my father and other people have been affected by the weather," she said. "This year has been a very bad year for him."

The 'blizzard of the century'

On Monday, New York Governor Katy Hochul called the storm the "blizzard of the century." Erie County officials said that at least 34 people had died due to the winter weather, according to The Washington Post.

During the fire, her family members were safe at the bus station, but Brianna and her father soon realized that they were unable to save her stepmother Keionna Ransom's ashes and keepsakes during the fire that tore through Gary Ransom's home.

Gary Ransom's four dogs also did not survive the fire. He and his younger daughters, who are 11 and 13 years old, were able to move to a hotel room, in part because one of Gary Ransom's jobs was at the hotel.

"He just so happened to work two jobs, and one of his jobs is as a hotel manager at the Red Roof [Inn], so his CFO offered him the rooms that he needed until he no longer needed them," Brianna Ransom told Insider.

Other residents huddled together in a barbershop or needed the help of kind-hearted strangers to survive the brutal storm. One Buffalo resident took upended her Christmas plans when she saw a man frostbitten from the storm, screaming for help, taking him in and caring for him until he could reach a hospital two days later.

The Ransom family felt the city did not do enough but said the community did

As she spoke with Insider on Wednesday, she said that roads in her father's old Masten Park, Buffalo, neighborhood are still covered in snow. The breakdown in the response to the storm has caused infighting between Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Erie County executives, who have each accused each other of not doing enough, according to The Washington Post.

"The storm happened between Friday and Saturday, and it's Wednesday and they still haven't come into the inner city and done any of the things that needed to be done," Brianna Ransom told Insider. "You know, it makes everything unsafe because if you can't walk on the sidewalk that causes you to walk in the street, and there is snow in the street."

Buffalo Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In the first days of a GoFundMe she started for her father, Brianna Ransom raised over $6,200 for her father's relocation. In the fundraiser, Gary Ransom said the fire "took my last of everything."

"Nothing will be replaced, we lost four dogs in the house fire, we lost my stepmother's ashes, her pictures, all of her belongings," Brianna Ransom told Insider. "It just shows that you never know what the community is like until you need the community, and they really showed up and showed out for my dad and my sisters and we will forever be grateful."