Help after home fire leads to hope > Ellsworth family recovers possessions, optimism despite uncertainty about repairs

ELLSWORTH — Claudia Luchini spoke only of hope and thankfulness less than 24 hours after her Pine Street home was damaged by fire.

“Even though it was an awful thing that happened, I kept seeing all these wonderful people, hearing these wonderful things they’ve offered to do,” she said Thursday.

Andy and Claudia Luchini, their six children ranging in age from preschool to high school, and the family dog have found temporary shelter at the Colonial Motor Lodge for the holidays, unsure how long it will take to make their home habitable again.

On a quick tour of their scorched house on Thursday, the couple recovered some clothes and Christmas presents, still intent on preserving the best of the holiday spirit for their children.

The Luchini family had just finished dinner Wednesday evening when a chimney fire started in their wood-frame house. Claudia Luchini first detected a scorching smell and heard a strange crackling in the walls. At nearly the same moment, the couple’s teen-age son saw smoke coming through the baseboards in his upstairs bedroom.

After calling the local fire department, the family rushed outside into the cold. “We didn’t think we’d be outside very long. But then we watched the smoke coming from the eaves. I could only think that we wouldn’t have this house anymore,” she said.

According to Fire Chief Everett Farnsworth, the chimney fire had already escaped into the walls and ceiling when his crew arrived. Some ceilings and walls were brought down, as firefighters contained the fire and saved the structure.

Although few furnishings were destroyed, there is smoke and water damage throughout the house, as well as a distasteful smell on the family’s clothing and furniture. The floors are blackened and furniture overturned.

Firefighters also had to cut a hole in the roof to vent the gases. The walls, ceilings, roof and some potentially dangerous electrical problems must be repaired before the family can move back in, it hopes within 30 days, Luchini said.

It was the outpouring of concern and generous offers to help that Luchini and her family most appreciate. Within minutes of the call to the fire department, not only were emergency crews on the scene but also friends and neighbors with offers to take care of one or more of the children.

Minutes after the fire was reported, a Red Cross representative was by their side, handing the family vouchers to stay at the Colonial and to eat at Helen’s Restaurant. The vouchers meant that the family could stay together, rather than be separated into smaller groups at various houses.

The Baptist church across the street from the Luchini house opened its doors so that the family could have a warm place to wait while firefighters were in their home. Another neighbor took the youngest children to her home to watch a movie.

A relative has provided a car, since the family has no transportation of its own.

Defining the impact of the event on the family is complex, Luchini said. But her sense of optimism is most apparent.

They all sat down for lunch together Thursday, she said. “Just the idea of sitting down to eat together, to go through that routine. That was really helpful to me, knowing that we’re all together.

“I guess I feel like we can make it.”