When 14-year-old Cohen Stahl decided to help emergency workers by digging fire hydrants out of the snow after a recent winter storm in Pennsylvania, he couldn't have imagined what would happen next.
Stahl, an eight-grade student, took his all-terrain vehicle with a plow out to help move snow from driveways, clear snow around mailboxes and dig fire hydrants out of the snow too, when his ATV began smoking and caught fire.
"It just shut off and started smoking. I just saw flames. I started throwing snow on it. It didn't work," Stahl told WJAC.
The local volunteer fire department took note of his good work as fire hydrants buried in snow can cause big delays for fire fighters looking to find the hydrants in emergencies.
The Conemaugh Township VFD station posted photos of Stahl's ATV which caught fire. That's when a local business decided to set up and GoFundMe page to help raise money to get him a new vehicle.
Jason Keller of Cernic Cycle World in Johnsontown, Pennsylvania decided to start the page to help Cohen, and donations have now exceeded the $10,000 goal and by Tuesday were at $10,620.
Keller wrote on the GoFundMe page, "Let’s all pull together as a community and help this nice young man get a new used ATV so he can continue helping the community and being an outstanding young man like he already has Showed us [sic]. I will be helping him get the atv at a discounted price."
Stahl's proud mother Nicole has been impressed with his achievements in the community writing, "He became popular very fast!! He’s a good kid!
