PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth church announced they will be raising money to help after a massive fire on Court Street left one dead and one with injured.

According to officials, on Oct. 7 just before 6 a.m., crews with the Portsmouth Fire Department were dispatched to the 300 block of Court Street for reports of a residential structure fire with occupants possibly still inside.

Crews said the fire to the historic two-story house in Portsmouth’s Olde Towne Historic District, which has been owned by the same family for around five generations, resulted in one person, later identified as 65-year-old Danielle Erikamary Bielenstein, being found dead inside of the home and another resident suffering from injuries.

A local church, St. John’s Episcopal Church, stated that, as a result of the fire, they will be fundraising in order to help the impacted family.

“When one of our neighbors is hurting, we believe it’s our mission as a church to move into the neighborhood and to reach out and to help in any way that we can,” said Father Derek Harbin, rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church.

Harbin said he also saw the fire unfold and he knew of the people who lived inside.

“Folks that have lived here for a long time know about them,” Harbin said, “and know the stories that they’ve told, the ghost stories that they’ve told, the history stories that they’ve told and they just are two wonderful people that we love so dearly.”

He said it is tragic to witness history be scorched like this.

“To have a family and a house that is full of such history all the way back to the earliest of Portsmouth — documents, archival records, furniture, it’s just lost forever, and that’s a tragedy,” Harbin said.

Harbin said the church will be collecting cash donations, either in person or online, to help the survivor of the fire, who is now recovering from their injuries. You can find their address, as well as a link to donate electronically on their website here.

“These are the kinds of things that tear your heart apart,” Harbin said. “These are the kinds of things that make us want to reach out and love. I ask for folks’ prayers. I ask for your support. I ask for healing that she can begin to build a new life after this devastation.”

Fire crews said the fire was determined to be accidental in nature, likely resulting from an electrical malfunction.