Special Report: Path to recovery for local house fire victims
Northampton resident Tracey Fountaine can remember seeing an owl perched on the roof of his house as he arrived home from work one day last June.
A few hours later, the owl was still there.
It was a strange sight, he recalls. Normally owls don’t get that close to homes, or stay around long.
That was all before the aging electrical outlet sparked in the basement near the clothes dryer, before the fire leapt up the wall, before Mr. Fountaine was covered in a flaming blanket while desperately battling the blaze. That was also before he spent days in a hospital recovering from burns while his family dealt with what remained of the family home.
But even when the house — the place his wife, Lyn, had called home since childhood — did catch fire and firefighters tried to contain the blaze, the owl didn’t fly away. It stayed there, hopping from one side of the roof to the other, consumed in smoke.
Only after the fire was out and everyone was OK did the owl leave its perch, Mr. Fountaine said.
He believes that owl was like a guardian, watching over his family and keeping them safe. Nine months after the devastating fire, small owl trinkets litter the trailer the Fountaine family is living in as their home is rebuilt bigger and stronger.
“The owl has become like a family symbol,” Mr. Fountaine said. “I know when we go back home, it will come back.”
In many ways, Mr. Fountaine’s story mirrors the lives of other residents in the North Fork area who have lost their homes and possessions — and more — to fire in the past few years. There’s the initial devastation, the grueling recovery and the importance of support from family and friends.
The News-Review sat down with four area residents who were the victims of house fires in recent years to learn more about that recovery process.
Click on the tabs below to read their stories.
When: Thursday, June 26, 2014
Where: Northampton
What happened: A late-night fire originating in the Fountaine family’s basement — believed at the time to have sparked specifically in the laundry room — ripped through the house, sending Tracey Fountaine to the hospital with burns on his face and shoulder. His three daughters, wife and the family’s pitbull-sharpei mix all escaped unharmed. While recovering in Stony Brook University Hospital’s burn unit, Mr. Fountaine still able to witness his daughter Amberlyn’s high school graduation by watching it live via FaceTime.
Robert Sutton, a firefighter and chairman of the fire and life safety committee of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, said people need to stay safe and mindful of potential fires. They can do so by following a simple checklist of safety tips, like properly maintaining oil burners and space heaters or buying certified power outlet strips.
“Most fires are preventable,” he said.
But Mr. Sutton said no one is immune to the danger of fire, not even him. In 1998, while Mr. Sutton was working in New York City, his own home burned down after an electrical fire sparked inside a wall.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of knowledge you have,” he said. “Fire is unbiased and it knows no line.”
Mr. Fountaine said the fire came at an especially hard time: his daughter Amberlyn was graduating from Riverhead High School that week.
“It was a lot to take in,” he said. “We had just lost everything. My daughter was graduating that weekend and we were trying to make sense of everything.”
Mr. Fountaine was the only person injured in the fire; his arms and scalp were burned badly.
“I’ll never be the same in terms of direct sunlight. I’ll always have to cover up,” he said. “But as far as everything else, I’m up back close to 100 percent. I can’t complain.”
Mr. Fountaine admits he at first questioned God why his family had to suffer the tragedy.
“You lose your possessions and the memories you made in that place,” he said. But he said the story of Job in the Bible inspired him to work through the loss.
“Why not me?” he asked. He credits his faith with helping to keep him strong.
His other allies? The friends, family and neighbors who all raised money, donated to him or gave him a place to stay in the immediate aftermath of the fire.
“The outpouring of people, I can’t even fathom, can’t even describe how many people came to our aid,” he said.
The Fountaines’ trailer — along with most of their new home — was paid for by his insurance provider. Mr. Fountaine said his insurance company has made it easier for him, his wife, and two daughters to remain comfortable while their new house is being built.
The Fountaines should be ready to move in by spring, he said as a small owl statue watched on from the television stand.
But for those without insurance, returning to normalcy is more of a struggle.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014
Where: Riverhead
What happened: A tenant at Ms. Carson’s home on Riverside Drive tossed some fireplace embers underneath the back deck on New Year’s Day, sparking a fire on the deck that eventually tore apart the rest of the house. Aid from five local fire departments was eventually required to knock down the fire. The tenant was hospitalized with second-degree burns on his face. Ms. Carson — who didn’t live at the home at the time — was out of town. Three other people were able to escape from the home unharmed.
Rani Carson — a Riverhead artist whose home caught fire while she was away on New Year’s Day 2014 — has had to come up with other ways to pay for her repairs.
She had paid her insurance dutifully for years, she said, but missed a payment a few months before the fire. Her insurance had been canceled when the home burned down.
Ms. Carson tried selling her art to raise money.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t really enough to make a substantial difference,” she said. “But it did help.”
Ms. Carson’s work is still on exhibit at the Suffolk County Historical Society through March 24. She hopes potential buyers might take interest in them there.
Her home still hasn’t been repaired. Today, a tarp hangs over a gaping hole in the rear of the house, where a fire started when ashes and embers placed under a rear porch ignited and climbed up the building. Ms. Carson, with the help of some workers within Town Hall, was able to stay on her property by converting an old garage into a makeshift apartment.
She’s been staying there while she bounces back.
“It’s been devastating in many ways, but fortunately I’ve been able to put a kitchen into my garage,” she said. Her artwork hangs on the walls and lies in storage containers nearby.
Ms. Carson said she’ll likely have to use her retirement savings and take out a loan to get enough money to fix her house and move back in.
Ms. Carson said she appreciates and respects the pain she and other house fire victims have felt. She tries to not dwell on what she’s lost.
“I believe very strongly that we are spiritual beings passing through physical perspectives,” she said. “There’s more important things than the physical.”
When: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Where: Greenport
What happened: Karen Pollack went to the basement to look for a screwdriver and came up shortly after, only to find that her “whole life had changed.” A fire had ripped through the home and filled it with smoke so dark she couldn’t see. Ms. Pollack’s husband, Jack — who was physically disabled as the result of a violent assault decades ago — was unable to make it out of the fire. He died at the age of 61. The couple’s pet dog also died in the fire.
Miles away in Southold Town, Karen Pollack is trying to plan out her future. Spread across her dining room table are stacks of papers. In the stacks are window designs, floor plans and other details for her soon-to-be renovated home.
Ms. Pollack has been staying with her mother since a fire swept through her Greenport Village home last March. It’s a warm bed and a roof over her head, Ms. Pollack said, but it’s not the same.
“It’s not your home,” she said.
Ms. Pollack not only lost her First Street house in the fire, but also her beloved husband, Jack, and the couple’s dog.
Ms. Pollack said the pain is immeasurable.
“I’m struggling with profound grief,” she admitted. “Imagine the worst day of your life. Multiply it by a thousand and that’s what I went through that night.”
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Ms. Pollack blamed herself. Had she put too many logs on the fire? Had it spread to the carpet and burned away everything she had?
“I thought I had killed my husband and burned my house down,” she said. “I blamed myself and I thought it was carelessness.” She soon learned that the cause of the fire was unrelated to the fireplace; there was nothing she could have done.
Most nights, she’s restless. Nightmares wake her in the early morning hours and keep her awake.
“I dream about Jack every night,” she said. “I try to get through the day. I try to keep a smile on my face.”
Like so many other fire victims, Ms. Pollack has had friends and family reach out to support her. Ms. Pollack also has insurance on her home and is working now to iron out the details of what the insurance company will cover.
She said having a single task to do each day helps, but the winter doldrums have set in. Without something physical to do, it becomes easy to get discouraged.
But Ms. Pollack said she’s inspired by her late husband’s attitude: never give up. So she doesn’t.
“It’s only going to get better,” she said.
Bonnie Sue-Luce
When: Saturday, Jan. 8, 2012
Where: Riverhead
What happened: Verna Campbell woke up at 5:45 a.m. and put her tea on, just like any other morning. But shortly after leaving the kitchen, she came back to a room full of smoke and fire. A box stored near the stove had apparently fallen on top of the gas-powered flame. Ms. Campbell — well known around town as the longtime Town Hall secretary — and her daughter Bonnie Sue-Luce, who lived upstairs at the time, were able to escape unharmed, though they lost three cats in the fire. The home, built in the early 1900s, had been passed down from Ms. Campbell’s mother.
Verna Campbell’s situation is evidence of what a house fire survivor’s road to recovery can look like after only three years.
Ms. Campbell’s home on Maple Avenue in Riverhead was badly damaged by a morning fire in January 2012. Ms. Campbell — who worked as a receptionist at Riverhead Town Hall for decades — lost all of her possessions, including her clothes, her collection of books and many photographs of her family.
Like the Fountaines, Ms. Campbell lived with her daughter in a mobile home on the property. The temporary housing was paid for by insurance, as were the furniture and repairs.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead without insurance,” Ms. Campbell asserted.
But 14 months after the fire, Ms. Campbell was back in her home, newly renovated with insurance money. She was even able to customize her house. She turned a closet into a shelf, painted the kitchen yellow and added more windows to let in “God’s bright sunshine.”
Today, guests at her home are treated to a happy recollection of every new piece of furniture and what store it came from.
“This was an answer to prayer,” Ms. Campbell said.
Though it’s been years since the fire, Ms. Campbell can quickly recall what started it: She was preparing breakfast in her cluttered kitchen when a box fell onto the stove. The flames spread up the counter, up the cabinets and up the wall.
“I will never forget,” she said. She’s learned from that day, vowing to keep her home clean. Her kitchen is immaculate.
She’s gotten new clothes, too, and replaced some of the photographs with copies from family members. Her book collection — now growing once more to replace those she lost in the fire — is a great source of pride.
“I’m getting there,” Ms. Campbell said. “Slowly, but surely.”