Local Wendy’s raises funds for Union City fire victims

A Hudson County Wendy’s restaurant is raising money to benefit the families of five children killed in a fire earlier this month.
The restaurant on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen is donating 50 percent of the proceeds made between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday to the families. The restaurant has also been collecting cash donations for the last two weeks.
Members of the community came out to support the fundraising efforts.
Karen Ruiz says that she knows the family personally, so she says she and her own family were glad to come out to the Wendy’s for dinner.
"I can't even imagine the pain they are going through.  It's tough. It's moved the whole community. It's just a very touching situation. And we feel their pain,” she says. 
The children, ranging from ages 2 to 13, were killed when a fire broke out in their 25th Street home on July 13. They were all related.
It has been nearly three weeks, and officials have not yet released the cause of the fire.
It is believed that the fire started on the first floor of the multi-family home. The children who died lived on the third floor.
The second-floor family has told News 12 New Jersey that there were working smoke detectors inside the home, which they heard before escaping the fire. It wasn’t clear why the children on the third floor were unable to get out.
The home is currently in the process of being demolished.