It happened too fast – within minutes two pairs of young women living in Hoboken lost everything when their apartment building at First and Jackson Streets caught fire last Saturday morning. The blaze burned their clothes, furniture, household goods and keepsakes. Two of the women even lost all of their immigration documents.

But just as the fire burned so quickly, so too have many Hobokenites rushed to respond with help. Many have donated money and other necessities, and many more will attend a benefit party next Friday.

The idea for the party came from Rory Chadwick, owner of the luxury clothing boutique Midtown Authentic. On the morning of the fire, Chadwick said he heard sirens rushing to the scene, but thought that a common sound in a city like Hoboken wasn't necessarily cause for concern.

“I didn't think anything of it until I went online and saw the whole place burned down,” he said.

Chadwick acted quickly. He said he felt a connection to the women after having long ago endured his own period of loss.

“I know how hard it is to get back to where you were before when everything gets taken away,” he said. “I said, I gotta do something.”

Within minutes Chadwick called two of his friends, hMAG magazine publisher Joe Mindak and bar owner Joe Branco.

Hearing that Chadwick wanted to throw a benefit party, Branco offered his spacious nightclub Room 84 as a venue.

“Rory called and said he wanted to do something. I said whatever you need, I'm in,” he said.

Guests to the party must make a financial donation, of any amount of their choosing, to get inside. Branco will give everyone who does so a free drink.

While Branco started preparing Room 84 for the party, Mindak began calling his friends among businesses, civic groups like the Hoboken Rotary, athletes and entertainment personalities asking for their help.

“Part of our goal when we started hMAG was to give back to Hoboken,” Mindak said. “These things are easy to do. It's not hard to be charitable.”

Others have also played important roles. Housing Authority commissioner Jake Stuiver got involved after accepting an invitation to the benefit party on Facebook. Chadwick saw Stuiver was going to come and asked him to help.

In order to collect money electronically via PayPal, Chadwick said that he needed to find a trusted person who could use his or her account. While Chadwick has his own PayPal account, it is for his business and he wouldn't be able to mix it with the charity. Stuiver offered to use his own personal account.

“I was happy to help, especially since the fire was right around the corner from where I live,” Stuiver said. “The young ladies who lost their belongings are my neighbors.”

As people have been learning of the fire and fundraiser through word of mouth and social networking sites, many have sent money to the PayPal account. Stuiver said donations have come from as far away as Los Angeles.

Several local storefronts have placed cash jars on their counters. According to Chadwick, Juan Rengifo, manager of PNC Bank at Maxwell Place, has offered to collect the loose bills and coins, count the money and convert it to a check the women could deposit into their bank accounts.

Many of those businesses and others have contributed items for a silent auction to be held during the benefit party. Thus far businesses as diverse as Ciao Belly, Michelangela, Muller Insurance, Peper Apparel and CKO Kickboxing have donated.

Chadwick and Mindak especially have obtained other attractive items for the auction like signed sports memorabilia from star athletes Mark Sanchez, Ray Rice, Martin Brodeur, Derek Jeter, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.

Almost a week after the fire, Chadwick said he is still receiving donations and other resources for the benefit party and beyond. He has met with all four women, who are each currently staying with family or friends.

As a start, Chadwick gave each of them clothes from his store. He has promised that more help will come.

“You got a lot of people that really care in this town,” he said.