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FOXBORO - Ten years ago, Arthur Bonin, a state firefighter at F. Gilbert Hills State Forest in Foxboro, joined with volunteers from across the country to beat back fires raging across drought-stricken Montana and Texas.

On New Year's Eve, the flames caught up with him and his wife, Vicki Bonin.

Just 10 days after his cancerous left kidney was removed at Norwood Hospital, the couple's home at 235 Main St. was destroyed by fire.

"Both of us are still pretty shaken up," he said. "We lost everything."

Not quite. Though battered on three fronts in 2009 - work, health and home - Bonin still has his friends and fellow townspeople.

And they are coming forward in the couple's time of need.

Former co-workers at the Foxboro State Forest, where he worked for 23 years until state budget cutbacks landed him at a more distant station this fall, have set up a benefit account for the couple at Rockland Trust in Foxboro.

Bonin, 63, said he was recuperating from the Dec. 21 kidney surgery at his sister's home in West Newton when the New Year's Eve fire struck.

He said Vicki arrived at their Main Street home about 7:15 p.m. and reported the fire.

Foxboro Deputy Fire Chief Steven Bagley initially estimated the damage at $300,000 to the building and another $100,000 to the contents.

Bagley said the fire has been ruled accidental, but that its cause has yet to be pinpointed.

Foxboro Fire Capt. David Healy said a portion of the second floor of the house collapsed shortly after fire crews arrived.

The town condemned the building this week.

The Bonins are still mulling what do next about finding a home. He was transferred to the Myles Standish State Forest in October, when the state reduced staffing in Foxboro from seven to five full time positions.

In September of 2000, Bonin packed up his goggles, hardhat and flame-resistant shirt and flew to Henderson, Texas, with three other Foxboro forest firefighters and eight men from other Massachusetts forest districts.

So acute was the need for hands and equipment in the western states that the Massachusetts team sent six pieces of fire apparatus out west on flatbed trucks.

Now the couple is thanking Foxboro firefighters and the town "for their support and doing the best they could to save the structure."

Anyone wishing to contribute to the fund can send a check to Rockland Trust, One Mechanic St., Foxboro, MA 02035. Checks can made out to the Art Bonin Benefit Account.

Donations can also be dropped off at the state fire headquarters, 45 Mill St., Foxboro.