As smoke from burning piles of storm debris fills the air in Clark and South Pymatuning Township, fires of a different kind are keeping tornado victims' spirits up.

"It's unreal," George Priester, 57, of 6 Nora St., said of the help he has received since the twister touched down at about 7:45 p.m. Sunday. By about 8:30 that night, "friends of my son and daughter were here with chain saws, ladders and tarps. They weren't here sightseeing. They were here to help."

Priester's home, yard and swimming pool were torn up by the tornado, and the family is still unsure whether they can be salvaged. "My wife hopes they can. But my 7-year-old grandson, who was also helping out yesterday (Monday), told me 'I don't care about your house, Pop. I'm just glad you're all right.' "

But it's the people Priester doesn't know who have shocked and moved him. He added the Salvation Army, which has been passing out beverages and soup, is "unreal. I'll never pass one of those buckets again, no matter how many stores I go into, without putting something in it," he said.

Tim Reeher of 4131 Wynwood Drive in South Pymatuning has also been amazed at the amount of help that has come his way since the roof of his home was blown off. "People who live down the road, who we don't even know, came to us and said that they had to do something. So they came and picked up in our yard," Reeher said.

The response from the younger generation has also been overwhelming to him and his family.

"The surprising thing is, about 4 p.m. Monday about 25 kids from Thiel (College) came with chain saws and asked me 'Where do we go?' And they will be back around 3:30 or 4 p.m. today to help load (salvageable) things into the trailer," Reeher said. "Everyone's bad-mouthing the young kids and here they are, one of the first ones here."

Dolores Raiti of Greenville, who was helping her sister, Roberta Regis of Milton Street in Clark, clean up her yard, heartily concurred. "They say teen-agers don't do enough. Well we had a group from Jamestown and some teens from Hermitage that were really working like little troopers. They didn't even know us," Mrs. Raiti said.

Besides teens, Priester pointed to a woman on crutches who was passing out doughnuts. "Look at what people are doing," he said.

Bonnie Silvis of Sharon, who recently had a hip replacement, said she had to come to Clark to "do what little I can."

The "little" she did on a crutch Tuesday morning was walk around with her friend, Toni Kurelko of Sharon, and pass out words of encouragement in addition to the doughnuts.

"We've been praying, but we wanted to do something physical. It's just what we can do to help," Ms. Silvis said. "I guess its our own 9/11."