The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Fire disrupts wedding plans
Fire causes extensive damage but family of six unharmed
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: July 10, 2008
Hanging in a closet of a Saline Township home that caught fire July 2 was a wedding veil Alice Andryc made for her daughter, Rachel Wirt, whose wedding is in October.
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Andryc and her daughter don't know yet if the veil can be saved from smoke damage it incurred, but the wedding invitations that were out on the dining room table were lost to the fire.
"The more we're getting into it, the more we're realizing our losses," said Andryc, "but what we're really grateful for is that no one got hurt."
Fire officials said the blaze started on the Oak Park Drive home's sun porch and spread quickly across the back of the house.
Andryc's husband, Jim, was alone in the house at the time, dozing in the living room at about 3 p.m. and woke to find the house dark, said Saline Fire Chief Craig Hoeft.
"Then he realized it was dark because the back of the house was on fire," Hoeft said.
Jim Andryc got five dogs out of the house. Alice Andryc had taken her two grandchildren swimming and returned home to find the Saline Area Fire Department and Pittsfield Township Fire Department battling the blaze.
"By the time we got there, the whole back of the house was on fire," Hoeft said. "To look at it from the front, it doesn't look so bad, but the whole back of the house is gone."
The Andrycs had recently completed extensive renovations on the house, including putting on a new roof, new siding, new countertops and converting a back porch into a three-season room.
The Washtenaw County chapter of the American Red Cross helped relocate the family, which included Jim and Alice Andryc, her son and his wife, and their two children.
The fire has disrupted the family's wedding plans, which included hosting a shower in August and a brunch the morning after the wedding.
"We've got a long road ahead of us, but we're planning to rebuild," said Alice Andryc. "We're trying our utmost to keep positive."
Staff Writer Brian Cox can be reached at 429-7380 or bcox@heritage.com.
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