ERVING — When an early-morning house fire that claimed the life of a 1-year-old girl broke out Tuesday, several residents who had been sleeping on the first floor got out and then used ladders to help relatives on the second floor escape through the windows.
One of those rescuers, the homeowner’s 18-year-old son Jake Clark, was badly burned going back into the house, trying to save his baby niece. On Wednesday, he remained sedated in Massachusetts General Hospital’s burn unit in Boston, where he is being treated for severely burned lungs.
“Pretty incredible kid for 18,” said Patricia Clark Pauly, a daughter of one of the homeowners. But the blaze proved to be too much and Jake Clark was driven back. The baby died in the fire.
Michael Clark, a son of the homeowners who lives in Vermont, said the family did all it could to save the girl.
“They tried and they tried. My dad tried and his hair got all singed,” he said. “They just couldn’t get to her because that whole hallway was enveloped.”
Cynthia and Leonard Clark, who own the home at 10 West Main St. in the center of town, were released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to Leonard’s sister, Terry Eaklor, of Turners Falls. Eaklor said her brother was treated for smoke inhalation and her sister-in-law, Cynthia, suffered a broken arm from jumping out a second-story window to escape the blaze.
“Right now, they’re all still quite in shock, and so it really hasn’t set in with full effect,” Eaklor said.
Eaklor said nine family members were in the house, and were awakened early Tuesday morning by the home’s smoke detectors. She said the family thinks the blaze started in the kitchen area at the bottom of the stairs, which hindered those sleeping upstairs from escaping.
She said that Cynthia and Leonard Clark’s daughter and her boyfriend, who lost their 1-year-old, had been staying at the house temporarily and were supposed to move into their own apartment Dec. 1. Their bedroom and the bedroom their 1- and-3-year-olds were sleeping in were both at the top of the stairs, where the fire quickly spread.
“They would have ended up losing both their children, except the older baby, who’s 3, had woken up and gone to the parents’ room and was in bed with them, so that’s how they got her out,” Eaklor said.
She said her nephews, whose bedrooms were on the first floor, found ladders and went around the house helping those on the second floor escape through the windows, but weren’t able to reach the baby in time.
Pauly, Leonard Clark’s daughter who lives in New Hampshire, said her father and step-mother are faring well physically, and are staying with other family members for the time being.
“Emotionally, not so much,” she said. “They lost everything.”
Eaklor said the family lost its two beloved dogs in the fire, as well as three adult cats and one kitten. “Cindy is very, very shaken up, and my dad is overwhelmed with the loss and how much people care and are coming together to help them,” Michael Clark said.
Pauly described the couple as wonderful people and longtime foster parents. Eaklor said Cynthia and Leonard Clark took in about 160 children over the 20 years they worked with the state’s Department of Children and Families. She said the couple had retired from the program, but were thinking about participating again and had begun remodeling their home.
Pauly said many of their former foster children still show up for Christmas and call them “Mom” and “Dad.”
“They would give you the shirt off their backs,” she said.
She added her father was a firefighter in Erving for 30 years and served as assistant chief before he retired from the department.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Eaklor said the family suspects it was electrical.
“It was an old house,” Eaklor said, adding the family did a lot of work on the home over the summer, but some of the electrical system hadn’t been replaced yet.
Eaklor said those displaced by the fire are staying with different family members at this time.
“The family would like to express their thanks to all who helped — the fire departments, the police, the EMTs, first responders, everybody,” she said.
The tragedy has prompted an outpouring of donations from the community, and Pauly said two GoFundMe accounts have been set up by the family to help them get back on their feet and cover funeral-related expenses. They can be found at: bit.ly/2foTSNl and bit.ly/2gL3xnt.
The Franklin County Technical School, where the Clarks’ 16-year-old son is a student, provided an immediate response through its crisis response team, giving the young man money for clothing and providing him with other essentials.
“What we’re doing moving forward is we’ve provided some meal support through our culinary arts department, and we’re doing a general collection through our staff right now,” said Director of Pupil Services Nate May. “We’re talking as a school about what else the family will need.”
Greenfield Cooperative Bank has also set up a relief fund for the family. Cash or check donations made payable to “Clark Family Fire Fund” can be dropped off at any of the bank’s branches or mailed to P.O. Box 1345, Greenfield, MA 01302.