A Lewis Township firefighter and his family were lent a home for the holidays after his was burnt down.

On Dec. 2, John "JJ" Lyons was out hunting when he received a call informing him his house was on fire. It was later revealed the fire started in his basement, causing $400,000 worth of damage. He, his wife Jessica, and their five-year-old daughter were homeless.

"We had no idea what we were going to do or where we were going to go. We didn't know we would be OK," Lyons told WNEP-TV.

When Joe Miller, a complete stranger to the family, heard about their strife, he offered them his recently deceased mother's house until they could get back on their feet, free of charge.

"I told JJ that we can't bring his house back. We can't bring his dog or his cat back but could help him this way and it means a lot for us to do that," Miller said.

Miller said it was an easy decision for him and his sisters to lend the Lyons the house, having learnt their altruistic behavior from their late parents.

"We as kids growing up got to see in action just how generous our parents were any time a need arose," Miller told The Daily Item. "They were very giving people. They were always taking care of someone who needed help."

On Dec. 11 Lyon's fellow firefighters spent the day helping the family renovate their new two-story farmhouse. They ripped out the carpet and moved in furniture donated from the community.

"This is a brotherhood. This is what we do. Guy gets down, everyone comes together. It's just an unwritten rule of the fire service," firefighter Joel Shirn said.

Lyons said he couldn't be more thankful for Miller and the rest of his community for coming to his time of need.

"The community has been great," Lyons said. "The outpouring, the phone calls, the texts, the emails, we get dozens on a daily basis to see what we need. It just reaffirms to me that people in this area really do care about their neighbors. In this case, they might not even know each other, but they're helping in times of need."