Support Jill and Her Family After House Fire
Donation protected
Around 11 pm on December 22, 2024 as she was half asleep, Jill Rubin heard a strange crackling noise coming from the wood stove in her house—turns out the stove pipe at the ceiling joint was glowing red with fire. She and her husband Andrew Lehto immediately called for help and scrambled to get Reijo (age 11) and their dog Maple dressed and out of their Vermont house into frigid, below-zero temp (Lilja, age 13, was with her grandparents at the time). They made it out okay and the local fire chief arrived and shut off the power and assessed the scene. Shortly afterwards, four local fire departments arrived to work together to contain and extinguish the fire. They live in rural Vermont and their house is near the end of a long narrow, dirt road and the quick response time likely saved their house.
The firefighters were able to save the house with minimal fire damage, but smoke and soot got everywhere. The water used to extinguish the fire ruined a good portion of the ceiling and floors as well as the attic insulation. Despite what seemed like a good outcome, it will be a couple of months before they can be back inside. In addition, all their belongings will have to be cleaned or thrown away and replaced. Over the last few days, they’ve stayed at a hotel and a couple of friends’ houses with their family dog. They are hoping to get into rental housing close to home next week.
Their entire lives have been upended in ways that will take a long time to process. And in the meantime, they need to figure out the logistics of housing and school and work, while managing the insurance company and many different contractors conducting different aspects of clean up, repair and rebuilding as well as replacing everything that is not salvageable. In the short-term, they need to cover the insurance deductible, replace all their food and personal stuff like books, toys and sensory tools for their younger kiddo. Also, a pair of glasses and Apple Watch went missing in the fire that insurance won’t cover and their heating bill is already noticeably higher from the lack of effective insulation in the attic.
Jill and Andrew are the kind of people whose hearts are filled with kindness and a deep regard for others, and now they need help from their friends and family near and far to make the road ahead a bit easier to navigate. Anything you can donate, via this gofundme, Venmo @Jill-Rubin-5, Amazon/Visa or gift cards to their local bookstore—it’s all so very much appreciated.
(My name is Jennifer Blakeslee, a friend of Jill’s from her time in Beacon NY. All donations of funds and anything else will go directly to Jill and her family to help cover the cost of hotels, contractors, time missed from work, meals, new clothes, new furniture.)
Organizer and beneficiary
Jennifer Blakeslee
Organizer
Norwich, VT
Jill Rubin
Beneficiary