Lincoln lends hand to couple after fire

LINCOLN – Scott and Ruth Birtz hope to move into their new home at 95 Taylor St. by late October, Ruth Birtz said Monday.

Insurance adjusters are finishing assessing the total damage done by the July 27 fire, and the Birtzes are in the process of buying a modular home that will be built atop the foundation already poured on their property when the fire struck, Birtz said.

“We are going to be able to rebuild,” Birtz said Monday. “It’s just a matter or when the paperwork gets done.”

The fire began when workers disconnected the one-story house’s utilities to prepare to move the house frame off its damaged foundation onto a new one about 30 feet away. The blaze destroyed the house’s roof and much of its interior, although careful work by the Lincoln Fire Department allowed the Birtz family to salvage many of their belongings.

Ruth Birtz, the town’s economic development assistant and a zoning enforcement officer, is awaiting an estimate from insurance adjusters as to the value of the house’s contents.

“That’s where I think we’re going to get hit hard with this,” she said. “We’re kind of sitting back and waiting to see how much we get.”

Workers at Town Hall have begun a relief fund to help the Birtz family defray costs that has so far raised about $700, said Diana Hill, a town clerk.

“People have been very generous,” Hill said.

Birtz is grateful for the contributions.

“When Diana first came in with the envelope, I was overwhelmed,” she said. “I cried at the generosity.”

People might have been moved to contribute because of the Birtzes’ run of bad luck. A mudslide took out part of the foundation in the spring, damage that was not covered by insurance.

The Birtzes struggled with insurance companies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among others, to get help with the damage before using retirement funds to help pay for the repairs.

The fire came just as the repairs were being finished.

“My husband has been driving to work and people have stopped him and asked him how we’re doing,” Birtz said. “It’s been amazing.”