mobanmarketMERRICK, NY — The homeowner, whose property was destroyed by a vicious fire last week, said he’ll rebuild.
Fortunately, Hank Van Well Jr. and his wife Tina were not home when flames spread on the evening of July 3. They took the pets for the weekend as well, upstate to clean out his father’s summer home.
His in-laws live across the street in Merrick and were the ones who called with the stunning news. Tina returned to Long Island and had a firsthand look at the fire’s fury.
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“She was devastated,” he told Patch. “For everything that they retrieve, it reminds her of something else that perished. It’s just an emotional ride.”
From his initial description and photos of the fire, “I could tell the house is totally destroyed,” he said.
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The fire apparently started in the basement and is believed to have been electrical in nature, he said.
“It was going for a while and then went straight up the walls, evidently,” Van Well said.
In an instant, all the memories from three decades of living were gone.
“Most things can be replaced. It’s the sentimental things that can’t be replaced,” he said. “We got out of there with her, myself and my dogs. That’s all that matters to us.”
Van Well is beyond thankful that his family was nowhere near Merrick on that fateful night. Van Well tries not to clutter his mind with “what ifs,” such as being home to “watch the whole thing burn down with our dogs in the house.”
Not yet ready to retire, Van Well, who works part-time as a sanitation worker for the Town of Hempstead, is determined to start anew amid the ash and rubble.
Although the Van Well house was ruined, it did not spread elsewhere on Lindgren Street. The Merrick Fire Department took the lead, while firefighters from Freeport and Bellmore also fought the flames.
“They contained that fire. Those guys all do that — volunteer. They step in when everybody’s running away,” Van Well said with his voice cracking. “I even get choked up saying it, because those guys are heroes.”
Van Well is also overwhelmed by average citizens, leaving a donation on the GoFundMe page, now topping $5,700 toward the rebuilding.
“[It’s] heartwarming, the outpouring of kindness, especially those who don’t know us,” he said. “It’s humbling, to say the least.”
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