Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Roof, The Roof, The Roof is on Fire!

I'll never forget it.

December 15, 1997. Somewhere around 6 pm. I was in the ladies room at work stealing a forbidden cig and I went back to my office figuring I'd stick around another hour or so. Ken (the wiseass boss) looked at me and said 'Dale called. Your house is burning, go home." I didn't believe Ken but I left. It was only 3 miles to work from the house, when I started to see the smoke, I got worried.

You read about it every year, some jackass starts a fire making Christmas decorations or cheap lights or whatever but you never think it'll be you. Well, it can be.

(Dobbs burns to the ground, continued inside) It started on the 5th floor, left side of a very old building. The mentally disturbed woman who lived there who should not have been living alone (but hey, the LL only wanted the monthly state check) was spray painting a pinecone next to the stove and POOF. This was the top floor of the building, the space from the ceiling of her apartment to the roof of the building was just that - space with wood on top. I'm not going to dwell on the sadness of this woman or how once she realised there was a fire all she wanted was to go back for her cats, it's making me tear up already.

The building was shaped like this [ , the fire started on the left side and instantly spread through the empty space across to the right side. We were first floor right side front of the building.

Darkstar was waiting for me when I pulled up, he had had the mental fortitude to grab the cat and stick him in a box so at least I knew that was safe. We kept thinking they would put it out any minute and in an hour or so we'd be able to go back in.

There were problems with the pipes, they couldn't get the water going. We had fire departments from 5 towns and all they could do was sit and watch.

It burned for 12 full hours before they got it out, we all sat stunned and numb in the village hall while the Red Cross swung into action and firefighters kept coming back and forth with the rescued pets they were getting. One of the local residents (the town vet) had the mind to open his office and leave his wife there while he brought carriers, food and meds. I called Mike (Boss number one) to tell him not to expect me in (I had only started working for this place two months earlier in October) and explained that Ken had not been kidding. He told me to call him back in 10 minutes and when I did he told me to take Darkstar and the cat and go to the Tarrytown Hilton where they had gotten us a room for the night with breakfast the next morning.

63 families and 225 people lost their homes on that night 8 years ago. Pets were lost, presents were lost. I remember the look on the little Japanese girl from the floor below us, the old woman who only wanted it to be HER cat that was brought in next, the mother trying to be brave in front of the kids who were asking what would happen to all the presents under the tree.

They didn't let us back in until December 30th, for 14 full days we lived in roach motels courtesy of the Red Cross (not that the RC knew that were roach motels, I was happy to have a place to be) only to discover there was nothing left.

We lived entirely off the kindness of strangers, it was the most humbling experience of my life and it changed a lot of the way I think about things. As soon as Sean Hannity heard about what had happened he had a three hour "Hlyn-a-thon" on his show. I was on with him talking about the fire and he was asking listeners to chip in. He himself gave me a $300 check which shocked me. One of Sean's listeners actually showed up at my office DURING the show with a computer for me. $2,000 in random kindness from WABC listeners and hosts came our way.

The village of Dobbs Ferry also jumped right into action. There was an empty gas station in town, the Red Cross took it over and it became donation central. It was slightly surreal. Dobbs is a rich town, the average cost of a house in Dobbs is in the 600k range. The donation center was full of designer clothing and high-end appliances, the people in Dobbs really gave.

On the 30th they finally let us into the building to see what was left. I remember them letting us in in cycles, we had to wear work boots and hardhats and use flashlights and portable flood lights. I walked into my first floor bedroom and the ceiling was caved in and resting on my bed. Mike and Ken (bosses one and two) were there to help, I was wearing a pair of Mike's work boots which were massive on me. They weren't allowed in but since we were first floor, I was throwing bags of shit out the window and they were taking it over to the grass so it helped.

It was disgusting. The water was up to my ankles and there were pieces of the ceiling everywhere. It was dark and cold and dank and there was strange mold on the walls. There wasn't much worth saving but I grabbed whatever I could get my hands on, threw it in garbage bags and worried about sorting it later.

Only a year before, my parents had sold their house and moved. I sent most of my crap up with them, all I took with me was the most important things. The rare books that came just from my dad, the pictures of family members long gone and long ago vacations. Daddy's girl at summer camp in tears clinging to daddy not to leave. My original degrees. Everything. We had 30 minutes to wade through water, cement and darkness to grab what we could, we weren't getting back in for another two weeks. A lifetime lost in one night.

The fire was a Monday. If nothing else, one positive quality I have is the ability to think quickly and act calmly in a crisis. Tuesday was a day spent in numbness and dis-belief, Wednesday I woke up and looked over at Darkstar in the other bed in the hotel and told him we needed to get out right away and find another place. He has a rapport with one of the real estate agents in town, we went right to Lisa and by the end of Wednesday had secured this place, which sits right in back of the old building. The Red Cross paid the security and the first month's rent. This was the 17th, we couldn't move in until the 31st so it was back to the roach motel for us. The vet offered to keep Claude at no charge, it was one thing that reassured me. Leaving him alone all day in the roach motel was not an option. I'll never forget those two weeks as I tried to get through work during the day (they told me I didn't have to come in and I'd still get paid but what was I going to do during the day, it was a welcome distraction) and sitting up all night with Raid and a bug-splatting shoe. Everything I was changed those two weeks. The snooty, snobby, uppity, tight-ass bitch was living in a roach motel and existing purely off the kindness of others.

Yes, the new place turned out better. Even if it is right behind the old place and I see it every day of my life. Pictures are only physical items, the memories didn't burn and I've started a new collection of books. But I have still not replaced all the every day items that were lost and on the anniversary, I am entitled to be a little morose.

To the other 223 people of Rosalind Gardens in the village of Dobbs Ferry who lost all they had, I only hope that the past eight years have brought back some of what was lost. I hope that like me, they realise that a person can go from a nice job, steady income to survive and a whole lotta toys to a roach infested motel living purely off the donations of others in the blink of an eye. I know I made a few more donations this year. I like to think I learned lessons that changed me and made me a better person for going through this.

Happy anniversary.

1. Amazing story. You and Darkstar really have been through alot.

   Buttercup

    on  12/15  at  05:09 PM

2. The strangest things got lost in that fire. My original art portfolio (the one that got me into Rhode Island School of Design), The sole one and only reel to reel master of my first trip into the recording studio doing a remake of “Time of the Season” by the Zombies, my thigh high buccaneer boots I loved so much, that huge desk I rescued from your aunts house and refinished into a lovely dining table… And my DJ collection would never be the same with its water damaged covers. The mold on my classic imports was really discouraging to clean.  My biggest regret is not doing the “keep your old apartment for a dollar a month until it re-opens”. I could have sublet it and collected the double rent they charge now, tax free.

   Oy Vey is right.

   Darkstar  on  12/16  at  08:44 PM

3. My husband and I donate 10 dollars for each year we’ve been together every year on our anniversary to the Red Cross. We’re up to $40 bucks and I couldn’t imagine NOT doing it. We do it because the day we eloped we had to find witnesses. The Red Cross was right across the street. It was October 29th, 2007, the Monday before our Saturday nuptial ceremony. We went in and found only two people working in the office because the rest were out helping families, just as you described. They told us they would have loved to witness, but they couldn’t leave. We donated 30 bucks and thanked them anyway.

   This past anniversary, our first wedding anniversary, we returned to the same office and upped our donation. It’s with a sense of reverence we do so. A way to give back for all the good fortune we’ve been blessed with so far. We’ve been through heck and havoc, but we’re still here, just as you are.

   I admire your tenacity, your buoyancy in the face of adversity. You have told me in the past you think I’m strong. I think that perhaps you forgot to give yourself the same label. I think you’re amazing.

   Mare Martell Stotler  on  12/16  at  12:44 AM

4. Dobbs burns to the ground, continued inside) It started on the 5th floor, left side of a very old building. The mentally disturbed woman who lived there who should not have been living alone (but hey, the LL only wanted the monthly state check) was spray painting a pinecone next to the stove and POOF. This was the top floor of the building, the space from the ceiling of her apartment to the roof of the building was just that - space with wood on top. I’m not going to dwell on the sadness of this woman or how once she realised there was a fire all she wanted was to go back for her cats, it’s making me tear up already.

   Best seo and sem services  on  02/04  at  05:49 AM

5. I realize I’m seeing this MANY years after you wrote, but reading it brought back all the horribleness of that night for me. I’d had dental work done that day. My boss sent me home cause he couldn’t understand me or else I might not have been home yet and been able to rescue my 3 month old kitten, which I did. I lived on the 4th floor, catty-corner (and down a floor) from Molly, who set the fire. Scariest moment of my life when I looked out that window and saw the funnel cloud of fire coming from her apartment. I saw fire trucks and thought it wouldn’t take long to put the fire out, so I only grabbed my cat, the ugliest sneakers I owned, wearing sweats and a T-shirt. Some nice passerby gave me a jacket since it was the middle of winter. I wasn’t allowed back in for several months (my floor was last—hell even the 5th floor got in before I did!). It was horrible. But my friend/coworker raised money to help me at my office, so many people brought me clothes....it was unreal. I turned 30 a couple of weeks later and was so upset all I had nothing...literally, to show for it. But it was an amazing experience to see a community come together to help. Wow about Sean Hannity—I had no idea!!!! I already had an apartment in Dobbs Ferry—was 3 weeks away from moving into it. Timing is everything, I guess. I begged the guy to let me in early, rather than continue to stay with my sister across the bridge in Rockland. Thanks for writing about this. I will never forget either.

    on  03/12  at  09:09 PM
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