Sean C. Morgan
Gayle Ispas went to Mass at St. Helen’s Catholic Church Friday morning and came home to find her 3rd Avenue home in flames.
Fire and smoke destroyed most of the main floor and her possessions, but Ispas said she is thankful that she has been surrounded by her family and that her shih tzu, Libby, was located and returned to her.
Firefighters responded to the fire, located at 560 Third Ave., at 9:24 a.m.
Fire Chief Mike Beaver said the fire originated at a portable combination CD player and radio behind the house, below the kitchen window. The fire climbed up the wall into the attic space above the kitchen
Most of the damage was on the main floor, Beaver said. There was no fire damage in the finished basement.
Smoke and water damage were prevalent throughout the home, though one room, a guest room on the main floor, was completely spared.
The fire report damage estimate was $175,000, Beaver said, although in his opinion, the structure of the house could possibly be saved.
“It actually went out very quickly,” Beaver said. Once firefighters opened the house and cleared the smoke, they were able to see the fire and knock it down quickly. Most of the fire was actually outside the house.
Extinguishing the fire didn’t even require a tank of water, he said. Sixteen firefighters responded with six pieces of apparatus.
“(Ispas) had gone to daily Mass,” said her daughter, Leanna West. West had just grabbed a cup of coffee on her way to work and thought she would swing by and see her mom until she had to be at work.
“I got out and could hear the two dogs barking, but that’s not unusual if someone’s there,” West said. She unlocked the door, and smoke poured out. She called 9-1-1 and then went to the back gate to get the dogs.
She opened the gate, and the two dogs, a Labrador and a boxer, headed for the front yard, West said. She couldn’t find the shih tzu, Libby.
Ispas arrived home to find her house on fire, West said. “My mom was absolutely hysterical.”
Ispas was worried about her 12-year-old dog, and she thought about going into the house to find the dog, she said.
She started into the house, but West grabbed her, and then West started slapping the tile entryway and calling for Libby. There was no response.
Firefighters arrived, and West told Battalion Chief Shannon Pettner the dog was missing, West said. Pettner told West that dogs are smart and may have gotten out.
About 45 minutes later, West’s brother, Mike Chiaffino walked up carrying the dog, West said. Firefighter Christian Whitfield had located the dog in the back yard.
West said she and Ispas wanted to publicly thank Whitfield specifically and the firefighters in general.
“They were there quick,” West said. “In the grand scheme of things, everybody’s OK. Stuff is stuff. You can’t replace people or dogs.”
Ispas lived in the home with her son Mike and his family, wife Des Chiaffino and their two children.
Ethan, 11, usually slept in one of the rooms destroyed by the fire, Ispas said, but he was away the night before to go on a hunting trip with his grandfather.
“I’m doing well,” Ispas said. “I’m grateful for the kindness that’s been extended to me. I’m so grateful that young man found my dog. The stuff is just stuff. I’m thanking God right now and all the kind people that ask, ‘What can we do for you? What do you need?’”
Ispas also was able to recover two of five novels written by her late husband, Abe Ispas. One of them had been written just for her. They were novels he had hoped to sell and had printed for the family to read.