NOTE: This is the first in a series by the owner describing step-by-step the restoration and repair of the damage incurred in a fire in a Healy House. T.B.

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26 August 2015

It is just over a month since the fire in the kitchen of our 1890’s Healy House.

At about 2 am on a Monday morning we were awoken by our smoke detector.  There was smoke everywhere.  We ran down the stairs, my wife with her cell phone in hand calling 911.   While opening the back door in anticipation of the fire fighters needing to get into the house, I saw flames in our kitchen.  Everyone got out of the house in plenty of time and the fire trucks (five plus a command vehicle and an ambulance) arrived and they were inside with a house, with a hose, within 5 minutes.

The charred kitchen right after the fire.

The fire damage was limited to the kitchen, but there was smoke throughout the house.  The kitchen will need to be gutted and maybe the bedroom above it.  For the preservation side, the kitchen was the most altered room and had very few original features. The effect on the rest of the house is limited to smoke damage and some exterior storm window destruction by fire fighters to allow for ventilation.  The fire fighters did a great job and were very kind and helpful. They did tell us that the kitchen’s tin ceiling probably prevented the flames getting to the second floor.

Over the next few months I will be going over this experience: insurance people and friends; cleaning clothing and cleaning electronics; anger and loss; but mostly the kindness and understanding of others.