Police

Special Report: Path to recovery for local house fire victims

Who: Karen and Jack Pollack When: Wednesday, March 5, 2014 Where: Greenport What happened: Karen Pollack went to the basement to look for a screwdriver and came up shortly after, only to find that her “whole life had changed.” A fire had ripped through the home and filled it with smoke so dark she couldn’t see. Ms. Pollack’s husband, Jack — who was physically disabled as the result of a violent assault decades ago — was unable to make it out of the fire. He died at the age of 61. The couple’s pet dog also died in the fire.
Who: Karen and Jack Pollack
When: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Where: Greenport
What happened: Karen Pollack went to the basement to look for a screwdriver and came up shortly after, only to find that her “whole life had changed.” A fire had ripped through the home and filled it with smoke so dark she couldn’t see. Ms. Pollack’s husband, Jack — who was physically disabled as the result of a violent assault decades ago — was unable to make it out of the fire. He died at the age of 61. The couple’s pet dog also died in the fire.

Robert Sutton, a firefighter and chairman of the fire and life safety committee of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, said people need to stay safe and mindful of potential fires. They can do so by following a simple checklist of safety tips, like properly maintaining oil burners and space heaters or buying certified power outlet strips.

“Most fires are preventable,” he said.

But Mr. Sutton said no one is immune to the danger of fire, not even him. In 1998, while Mr. Sutton was working in New York City, his own home burned down after an electrical fire sparked inside a wall.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of knowledge you have,” he said. “Fire is unbiased and it knows no line.”

In the immediate aftermath of last January’s fire, Ms. Pollack blamed herself. Had she put too many logs on the fire? Had it spread to the carpet and burned away everything she had?

“I thought I had killed my husband and burned my house down,” she said. “I blamed myself and I thought it was carelessness.” She eventually learned that the cause of the fire was unrelated to the fireplace, and that there was nothing she could have done to save her husband, though she declined to offer further details.

Most nights, she’s restless. Nightmares wake her in the middle of the night, and keep her awake.

“I dream about Jack every night,” she said. “I try to get through the day. I try to keep a smile on my face.”

A former construction worker, Ms. Pollack gutted the burned house herself with the help of two of her brothers. At first, she said she couldn’t bear to see the burned remains of her home, nearly collapsing when she first returned to the house with her brothers to survey the damage.

But the process of tearing the house apart helped, she said. It gave her a task, something tangible she could focus on.

“It was a physical outlet,” she said. “I have to tear it down to build it back up.”

She said having a single task to do each day helps, but the winter doldrums have set in. Without something physical to do, it becomes easy to get discouraged.

But Ms. Pollack said she’s inspired by her late husband’s attitude: never give up.

So she doesn’t.

“It’s only going to get better,” she said.

Like so many other fire victims, Ms. Pollack has had friends and family reach out to support her. Ms. Pollack also has insurance on her home, and is working now to iron out the details of what the insurance company will cover.

For those without insurance, returning to normalcy is another type of struggle.