FITZWILLIAM — After Friday’s storm dumped several inches of snow on the Monadnock Region, Tracey Jess and her fiancé, Will Van Hillo — both local first responders — were working at the scene of a vehicle crash in Fitzwilliam.
Just as they were wrapping up around 8 p.m., a call came through on Jess’ smartwatch.
It was her son. The family’s home was on fire.
Jess turned to the command officer at the scene.
“Can we take this truck?” she asked.
Soon after, the call came in over the radio, but Van Hillo, Jess and the crew were already on their way to the Route 119 home.
The fire destroyed the family’s house, but thanks in large part to their first-responder expertise, and a couple of brave kids, there were no injuries or loss of life. Jess is an EMT for Rindge, Jaffrey and Fitzwilliam, where she is also a firefighter. Van Hillo is an EMR and firefighter in Fitzwilliam, as well as a public safety diver with Cheshire County.
Jess’ children, Damian Marcinkiewicz, 14, and Asia Rajaniemi 12, were both home when the fire started. But the kids knew exactly what to do, their mother said. One called Jess while the other phoned 911. Damian used the fire extinguisher as best he could but recognized he couldn’t take the fire down himself. So, he and his sister fled the house to stand at the end of the 700-foot long driveway — the meeting place designated by their family’s fire exit plan.
“They were absolutely amazing,” said Jess, who is the EMS lieutenant for Fitzwilliam. “You don’t think the kids listen to your fire plans because they’re teenagers, and they’re, like, whatever. But they knew it, I think, because we talked about it so much.”
Upon arriving, Van Hillo said he saw smoke and flames coming from the sides and the back of the house. Jess walked around the single-story building to see what was going on and told Van Hillo the fire appeared to be around the chimney.
Van Hillo and another firefighter grabbed the hose from the fire engine and entered the home to tackle the fire in the back. But then he noticed the fire was coming from above, too, and he began to pull down the ceiling to put the fire out, he said.
Van Hillo credited the department’s officers and thorough training for his efficient response.
“[With] the amount of training we do, I was able to put my emotions aside and do what I do best,” he said. “… And that made a tremendous difference in me doing my job and having to put out the fire, even though it was in my own house.”
It took about 45 minutes to knock down the fire, according to Fitzwilliam Fire Capt. Scott Symonds. The Richmond and Troy fire departments assisted at the scene, with a DiLuzio ambulance nearby and the Royalston, Mass. Fire Department providing mutual aid at the station. Officials haven’t determined what caused the fire, Symonds said, but it appears to have begun in the chimney and wasn’t suspicious.
The family’s two pet snakes and two cats were also home at the time of the fire, but all were rescued. Despite the quick response, the home is no longer habitable, the couple said.
“I have a 16-foot hole in my roof,” Van Hillo said.
“And no back wall anymore,” Jess added.
But through all the hardship, Jess and Van Hillo said the community has been incredibly supportive.
The morning after the fire, Jess stopped at the local Dunkin’ Donuts in the Mr. Mike’s gas station. After getting her coffee, she was turning to leave when the barista stopped her.
“Hey, it’s you!” Jess recalled her saying, and the barista pointed to something on the counter.
A little donation box had already been set up, featuring a picture of the family of four.
“Everybody in our community and surrounding our job, given what we do, it’s just been amazing, the fact that our network was so large without us even realizing it,” Jess said.
The family is staying with a friend — who is also an EMT — in Troy, so they’re still able to respond to calls in the area.
“Even though we’re going through our stuff, we still want to be there for the community that’s there for us right now,” said Van Hillo, who also works at New Hampshire Ball Bearings in Peterborough.
In an interview Sunday, Symonds said creating and fully understanding a fire exit plan is crucial. He suggested people go to the National Fire Prevention Association’s website, NFPA.org, for resources, games and activities to help people learn about fire safety.
Symonds also emphasized that Damian and Asia did everything right during the Friday night fire: They recognized that even with the extinguisher, they couldn’t handle the fire on their own; and they fled to the pre-determined meeting place at the end of their long driveway, a safe distance from the fire but visible to arriving first responders.
“Planning for these things,” he said, “helps save lives.”