Two house were destroyed, and three others were damaged in a fire in Slaughter Beach on Dec. 25, 2017. No injuries were reported, authorities say. Courtesy of Sean Donohue
As Vanessa Beary finished saying grace and prepared to enjoy Christmas dinner with her family – the first one in four years where they were all together – someone at the table noticed flames coming from the house next door.
"Oh my God, the neighbor's house is on fire," said Beary, who called 911.
Moments later, they realized that embers from the fire were blowing onto the front porch of their house on Bay Avenue in Slaughter Beach. With the hard-blowing winds and the fire being so close, they decided to leave but quickly found out they could not escape through the front door.
The 10 adults, six children and a pair of dogs escaped through the back door.
"Had we not seen the fire it would've been a lot worse," Beary said Tuesday morning. "We might not have gotten everybody out. ... We’re so fortunate that no one was hurt."
Beary and her mother, Bianca, who flew in from Cincinnati for Christmas, were among those braving the cold winds Tuesday to survey the aftermath of the fire that destroyed two homes and badly damaged three others.
"Everything we worked for was gone in a matter of hours," Bianca Beary said. "We're fortunate that no one was hurt, but this is devastating for our family.
"This house is finished," she said.
Fire officials were also on the scene Tuesday trying to determine what caused the blaze.
Many of the houses along Bay Avenue that back up to the beach are vacation homes and are built close to each another. The Beary's two-story house had just undergone four months of renovation and the family was meeting there to enjoy it together for the first time on Christmas.
Vanessa Beary said that besides everybody being safe, the one good thing that came out of the devastation was that a briefcase containing family documents, including birth certificates for the family’s great-grandfather and others, was saved.
Vanessa said she told firefighters that it was inside near the fireplace, and they went in and retrieved it. She said the documents were a little wet, but not damaged.
"I was so glad that they could be saved," she said. "That’s our family history."
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The fire, reported shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, burned well into the night with more than a dozen fire companies from Kent and Sussex counties called in to help.
Although a woman was reported injured Monday night when she slipped as she tried to remove belongings from one of the homes, the state Fire Marshal's Office on Tuesday said there were no reports of injuries.
The lack of fire hydrants and downed power lines made it difficult for firefighters to battle the flames.
"There wasn't a lot we could do to save those houses because power lines were down and they were hot," said Terry Jester, chief of Memorial Fire Company. "We had to let the buildings burn because we couldn't get water on them. Until the power was cut, we were just protecting the houses next door and around them."
Jester said they also had to deploy trucks capable of fighting brush and grass fires onto the beach because it had caught fire.
"Embers carried by the high winds were on the beach, and we didn't want those to ignite fires at nearby properties," he said.
Also, because there are no fire hydrants, firefighters had tankers going to Milford and other places to deliver water to Slaughter Beach.
"They did a great job getting water to us," Jester said. "And even though it was so cold, we were flowing it so fast that it didn’t have time to freeze."
Jester said this was the first working fire in about five years in Slaughter Beach. About 150 firefighters were on the scene Monday night, he said.
"Heavy fire damage is expected to exceed $500,000," said Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael G. Chionchio.
A couple, who would say only that they were the owners of one of the houses destroyed, sifted through the ashes Tuesday, salvaging anything they could.
They declined to comment before leaving.
Some motorists stopped and looked out their windows, while others got out and took pictures. Firefighters continued to water the smoldering debris.
Rebecca Craft, whose family had once owned one of the destroyed houses for more than two decades, was among the spectators Tuesday.
"There were a lot of memories there for us," said Craft, who now lives two blocks away. "We marked life events on the back steps, and now those are gone. They say it's just a house, but both of my parents lived in the house. This is devastating for the people who lived there.
"And for it to happen on Christmas Day makes it even more devastating."
Walt Reynolds, who battled the flames Monday night, came back to see the scene in daylight.
"I was driving engine No. 2," Reynolds said. "When we got there, two houses were fully engulfed. The wind conditions really hampered things for firefighters. It could’ve been much worse, but the firefighters did a great job fighting the blaze and making sure the fire didn't spread."
Reynolds said his fiancée's two homes, which are next door to the houses that were completely lost, were damaged. Melted siding and busted windows were evident.
"Because of the wind, the embers were blowing on the other houses," he said. "If her house – directly next door – was a two-story structure, it would have sustained far more damage."
Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ. Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.