By Kelly Phares
NNHS Sophomore Caitlin Ailsworth and her family are working to pick up the pieces after their home was destroyed and their two dogs killed in a devastating house fire early on October 28th.
Based on the damage, the fire is believed to have started in the kitchen. However, the cause has not been determined. According to Ailsworth, her parents are divorced but get along well and the entire family is now living together in her father’s home.
“It is really hard. My friends all keep saying ‘you’re so lucky you get to miss so much school’ but that is really not true. In fact I WISH I was stressing out about school right now instead of stressing out about everything that happened a week ago,” said Ailsworth. “School is nothing compared to what I have been through this past week.”
For the past week Caitlin, her sister, and her mother have been shopping for the things that they need to start rebuilding their lives.
The Ailsworth’s friends and family have been very supportive and groups have been set up to give donations.
The NNHS Girls Swim and Dive team, which Caitlin swims for, donated gift cards to the family.
NNHS Junior Kailey Maida set up a Facebook page that asks friends to bring gift cards to school so she can pass them on to the family.
As for the future of the destroyed home site, Ailsworth said that her family plans to rebuild on the property.
“We are going to have the house bulldozed because it is a safety hazard for the public,” said Ailsworth, “It should take about 6-8 months to rebuild.”
According to Ailsworth, very little was salvaged from the debris. However, they did managed to save her mother’s jewelry box, her money and gift cards, and several SD memory cards.
However, the things that were permanently lost were extremely sentimental: her great-grandmother’s paintings, her grandfather’s foreign coin collection and the family dogs, Quigley and Elise.
According to Ailsworth, her family is working hard to remember every little item that was in the house for documentation reasons.
She advises everyone to take pictures of their important items in case something like this happens to them.
“Always remember how lucky you are to have everything in your house and all of your family members. It is hard to think like this when it hasn’t happened to you, but just try,” said Ailsworth.
