HOWELL, NJ —The Fourth of July may be over, but the bad memories of a fire that night outside Tara Pappas's Citation Street home linger on.

Fire officials were investigating the cause of the fire, although it is still undetermined, Pappas said Wednesday.

She says she believes fireworks set off too close to the home caused the exterior damage, damage to her car and smoke in her home. Luckily no family member or pets were injured, she said.

Capt. Brian Prochnow, deputy fire marshal for Howell, said the cause of the fire is still not determined, although he said that fireworks - both aerial and non-aerial fireworks - were going off in the Oak Hill neighborhood at the time. He said aerial fireworks are illegal in New Jersey for personal use.

Pappas and her family went to sleep that night after using some legal fireworks, she said, that were safely disposed of, with the house secure. But then she was awakened by neighbors later that night after a fire started outside her home - from what she says were aerial fireworks.

A GoFundMe site to help the family with repairs to the home and a car has been set up by Jennifer Ellison of Lancaster, Pa., Pappas's niece. The site can be located here.

And Pappas, who does have insurance, said the damage to her home still has been a big hardship - financially and emotionally.

Her daughter has just started a new job and her boyfriend is recovering from cancer. In the midst of that, she now had to have the contents of her home - all clothing, even shoes - and other textiles, removed for cleaning. Her throat is affected by the smoke smell,too she said.

She will have to deal with exterior repairs to the house.

And then her car, while drivable, was had some burning from the fire. Her 2008 Toyota Camry is too old to repair, she said.

"I just feel like I've had a streak of bad luck," she said.

Misused fireworks are dangerous, experts say. And there have been incidents of vandalism in Holmdel with fireworks put in mailboxes or on lawns.

According to the American Pyrotechnics Association, here are some New Jersey laws regarding fireworks:

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