Firefighters Spare Most of Randolph Village Home

Standing in front of the flame-engulfed garage, firefighters pour water on the Rydjeski home Sunday morning. They were successful in saving most of the Summer Street home. (Herald / Robert Eddy)

In a hard-fought effort that relied more on manpower than on equipment, firefighters from six towns succeeded Sunday in sparing the major portion of a Randolph village home from a fast-moving fire.

The fire, which started sometime before 9 a.m. in the garage behind the Summer Street home of Stanley and Letitia Rydjeski, was apparently started by a recently used snowblower.

The garage, along with a connected shed and kitchen wing, were destroyed, but the main portion of the home—situated at right angles to the kitchen ell and furthest away from the garage—was largely spared.

While the fire was spreading through the garage Sunday morning, the Rydjeskis were sleeping in that main section of the home. Letitia Rydjeski said this week that her husband was resting, after having cleared the drive with the snowblower, and she was still in bed.

She was awakened by loud noises, which, Rydjeski said, were probably the gas tanks of their two vehicles—and the snowblower—exploding.

But at the time, there was no smoke in the house, and Rydjeski set off to explore. After spotting smoke out a window, she went out to find the garage on fire.

She hurried back inside to awaken her husband and call 911.

First on the scene were White River Valley Ambulance personnel and Randolph Police Officer Kellie Gotell.

They were soon joined by firefighters, who found the garage fully engulfed and flames pressing northward into the shed and kitchen.

All the flammables in the large garage had given the blaze "a head start," Randolph Village Fire Chief Jay Collette said this week.

Close quarters—neighboring homes, power lines and poles, trees, fences, and, of course, the snow—made this a challenging fire, Collette indicated.

There was no way to get the ladder truck positioned to fight the flames on the back side of the structure, Collette said, so firefighters worked in shifts on ladders on the roof.

On the positive side, the house, nestled in trees, was mostly shielded from the high winds that morning, he said.

Collette said this week that he called other departments primarily for manpower, and as a precautionary measure. Snowy weather had slowed reaction time, Collette said, and initially it was hard to gauge just how many firefighters he would have.

In addition to the three Randolph departments, Berlin, Bethel, Northfield, Williamstown, and Roxbury responded.

While they worked, residents in an adjoining house were evacuated as a precaution.

Rydjeski said she and her husband stayed at the police station while firefighters worked: "We watched the smoke; I couldn’t go back and watch the flames."

The fire was extinguished at about 2 p.m.

By Monday, the couple's three cats were all safe, Stan's gun collection was secure at a relative’s home, and the Rydjeskis’ extensive natural history collection of stuffed animals, shells, and other items kept in the front porch, were all spared.

Letitia Rydjeski, who admitted to being emotionally jangled and mentally scattered by the fire, this week expressed appreciation to the assistance that has been flooding in.

Someone has loaned them a car, and the Three Stallion Inn gave them a place to stay for three nights. Volunteers have boarded up windows, drained the pipes, and transported valuables to safe storage. Friends are helping the Rydjeskis tend to necessary arrangements, such as finding a professional cleaner. Red Cross has also assisted.

Their green-shingled house, which the couple bought in the early 1960’s, was insured. The kitchen is "wrecked," she said, but the main portion of the house suffered only some smoke damage.

Their primary need now, Rydjeski said, is to find a rental home.

This week, Chief Collette expressed thanks to the assisting departments, and Randolph Police Officer Kellie Gotell commended Randolph Village Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts for sending hot coffee, food, and drinks for the firefighters.

Cat Search Provided Extra Drama

Besides the paramount task of containing a dangerous fire, the Rydjeski blaze contained a mini-drama concerning the family's three cats.

While Stan got out the fire extinguisher—not realizing the extent of the fire—Letitia's first step, after calling 911, was to comb the house for her three cats. She found one, handed it off to a passing neighbor, and headed back inside to look for the other two. She was asked to evacuate the house before she found them, however.

Seven hours later, after the fire was out, two firemen helped Letitia to cage the two cats, one of whom had retreated to the interior of a box spring with no intention of leaving.

The firemen, wearing their thick gloves, spent 10 minutes trying to catch the frightened animal, once they got it out by tipping the bed.

"She went 40 ways: up the window, down the window, up the bed, and down the wall," Rydjeski said.

The Rydjeski pets are no ordinary cats. One is from Moscow, Russia, another from Warsaw, Poland, and the third from Washington, D.C. All were strays rescued by the Rydjeski’s daughter, who travels internationally for her job.

That makes the Rydjeski home, Letitia joked, "an international cat house."

By Sandy Cooch