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August 05. 2012 10:41PM
Manchester family trying to put pieces of their life together after fire
MANCHESTER — Two weeks after being driven from their third-floor Manchester apartment by a Sunday morning fire, Travis and Heidi Cammilleri and their four children are gradually putting their lives back together.
The Cammilleri family were among 80 city residents driven out of their apartments by a July 22 fire in the apartment building at 22 Country Club Lane.
But with family that includes boys 14 and 11, and 2-year-old boy-girl twins, there is a lot involved in getting back to normal.
“The Salvation Army and the Red Cross were great,” Cammilleri said. “There's a lot of great people out there but it's hard when you have to start from scratch.”
Heidi is from Meredith and Travis is from Vermont. They moved to Manchester to allow Travis to be closer to his job at Boston's Logan Airport while still living a reasonable distance from Meredith.
After two weeks of living in temporary quarters, first in rooms provided by the Red Cross and later with Heidi's parents in Meredith, the couple will soon move into a new apartment in Hooksett.
“We made sure it was on the first floor and had sprinklers,” she said.
Residents of Meredith have responded with help to clothe the children and take care of other necessities. Heidi's fellow workers at Uno's restaurant in Tilton have donated clothing and household items and are planning a fundraiser.
Some things are not easily replaced, such as equipment and supplies for the insulin pump that the couple's 11 year-old son uses 24 hours a day.
The family's rental insurance had lapsed, the result of the modern fact of life that sometimes one bill is put off so another can be paid, the family said.
The Cammilleri family know they will have to work to replace many of their possessions.
But no amount of saving, contributions, working extra hours and cutting corners can replace some items, such as photos and mementos of their children's early years.
Heidi said she has been told by building managers that they can't return to pick up pictures that were kept inside plastic tote containers. She believes her apartment has only suffered smoke and water damage because it was located on the opposite side from the fire.
She thinks some of her possessions are salvageable — perhaps not clothes and furniture, but she has the pictures inside sealed containers.
“They're letting people that are completely burned out; you can still see my balcony with my kids' bikes and the windows are intact,” she said. “I know there have to be things that are not ruined; that's my life.”
Her father is a Meredith firefighter and has volunteered to sign a waiver of any liability to enter the building to recover what his daughter calls “memory items” about his grandchildren. The chief and deputy chief of the Meredith Fire Department are willing to do the same thing.
“I can't get a direct answer about why they can't be let in,” she said.
Still missing in the fire is the family cat, Bailey. Heidi has been told that the cat has been spotted by maintenance workers and humane traps have been set to try to catch the animal safely.
The Cammilleri family were among 80 city residents driven out of their apartments by a July 22 fire in the apartment building at 22 Country Club Lane.
But with family that includes boys 14 and 11, and 2-year-old boy-girl twins, there is a lot involved in getting back to normal.
“The Salvation Army and the Red Cross were great,” Cammilleri said. “There's a lot of great people out there but it's hard when you have to start from scratch.”
Heidi is from Meredith and Travis is from Vermont. They moved to Manchester to allow Travis to be closer to his job at Boston's Logan Airport while still living a reasonable distance from Meredith.
After two weeks of living in temporary quarters, first in rooms provided by the Red Cross and later with Heidi's parents in Meredith, the couple will soon move into a new apartment in Hooksett.
“We made sure it was on the first floor and had sprinklers,” she said.
Residents of Meredith have responded with help to clothe the children and take care of other necessities. Heidi's fellow workers at Uno's restaurant in Tilton have donated clothing and household items and are planning a fundraiser.
Some things are not easily replaced, such as equipment and supplies for the insulin pump that the couple's 11 year-old son uses 24 hours a day.
The family's rental insurance had lapsed, the result of the modern fact of life that sometimes one bill is put off so another can be paid, the family said.
The Cammilleri family know they will have to work to replace many of their possessions.
But no amount of saving, contributions, working extra hours and cutting corners can replace some items, such as photos and mementos of their children's early years.
Heidi said she has been told by building managers that they can't return to pick up pictures that were kept inside plastic tote containers. She believes her apartment has only suffered smoke and water damage because it was located on the opposite side from the fire.
She thinks some of her possessions are salvageable — perhaps not clothes and furniture, but she has the pictures inside sealed containers.
“They're letting people that are completely burned out; you can still see my balcony with my kids' bikes and the windows are intact,” she said. “I know there have to be things that are not ruined; that's my life.”
Her father is a Meredith firefighter and has volunteered to sign a waiver of any liability to enter the building to recover what his daughter calls “memory items” about his grandchildren. The chief and deputy chief of the Meredith Fire Department are willing to do the same thing.
“I can't get a direct answer about why they can't be let in,” she said.
Still missing in the fire is the family cat, Bailey. Heidi has been told that the cat has been spotted by maintenance workers and humane traps have been set to try to catch the animal safely.
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