SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Permalink

Danversport family loses another house

By Ethan Forman
Staff writer
Published: May 27, 2008

DANVERS — The Newton family lost their home in the Danversport explosion 18 months ago, then lost the replacement last week when a section of it fell off a truck on a highway ramp behind Putnam Pantry Candies.

The new home was just five miles from a new foundation on Riverside Street.

"Just one more thing," said Victoria Newton, the mother of three children under 4. "And we don't know when it's going to be rebuilt."

While the U.S. Chemical Safety Board's investigation into the blast at the CAI Inc. and Arnel Co. ink and paint plant wrapped up May 13, the work is far from over for several families.

The Newtons are one of the last five families who have not moved back into their homes since the blast the day before Thanksgiving 2006.

There has been progress. Much of the neighborhood has come back with new modular homes, and homes that were spared have new windows and fresh coats of paint.

Still, 18 months later, the neighborhood sports a gap-toothed smile.

Four sections of their modular home were supposed to be assembled Thursday, Newton said, bringing the family one step closer to being home by at least the second week in July.

However, on Monday, one of those sections slid off its frame on the back of a truck "just like it was on a slide," said Antonio Lawrence of L.B. Builders of Middleton, the Newtons' builder, who said he felt sick about the whole thing. The accident happened on a ramp from Route 1 to Route 62, on the last leg of a 400-mile journey from the factory in Muncy, Pa. The section will have to be fixed, Lawrence said, so it will probably have to be shipped back.

Newton said it was a fluke. She found out about it when a neighbor called her at work after seeing it on the TV news.

This incident will delay further the return of the Newtons, who had to flee their home with small twins, Garrett and Ava, now both 31/2, just after the blast. At the time of the explosion, Newton was six months pregnant with Liam, who is now 15 months old.

The family of five is living in a cramped house in Hamilton, which they have to vacate by July 2. They intend to move in with Newton's mom, who lives in Beverly.

"I honestly thought when people said we could be out for a year, I said, 'No way.' I thought six months, I didn't think there was any real structural damage," said Newton, an intensive care nurse at Union Hospital in Lynn.

Ten days after the explosion, Newton said, her house settled, and there was a 6-inch drop from one end to the other. The Newtons' home was finally torn down just three weeks ago.

"Those poor people, they are nice people, and they have just had hell since it happened," said Karen Savini, who shares the same builder as the Newtons and whose home is being replaced with a modular one across the street.

Both the Newtons and the Savinis said it took months to settle with insurance companies over the amount of damage done to their homes. Because they were not living on Bates Street, the street immediately adjacent to the explosion site, and thus not apparently as badly damaged, insurance companies wanted to pay to fix their homes, not replace them. The families took out loans to cover the rest of the cost of their new homes.

"We lost 18 months of our lives," Savini said. "Time, energy, money, and we will never ever recover that, ever. I have to do something for the explosion every day."

Frank and Karen Savini said they, like the Newtons, did not realize the extent of the damage when they fled. The blast cracked the foundation and the house, they said, and a broken water main flooded the basement, among other damage.

When the building inspector ordered them to gut the house, the extent of the damage was revealed. It was finally demolished in March. The Savinis settled in August 2007 and took a loan for the rest. The project was further delayed by the need to get permission to rebuild the seawall along the river.

Karen Savini, who works full time for Nokia, and Frank Savini, who has a catering truck business, said it has been a full-time job dealing with all the paperwork.

While the home is under construction, they have been living in an apartment on Conant Street, and they have had to move three times since the blast.

In fact, the Savinis lost two homes in the blast: A three-family house at 7 Bates St., which is adjacent to the blast site, has since been rebuilt.

Despite all the hassles, the Savinis say they would not live anywhere else.

"We love the neighborhood," Savini said, "and second of all, we live on the water. We love the river."

Who else is still out

The Bishops, 15 Riverside St. — House standing on Bates Street is partially boarded up

Deborah Riva, 1 Bates St. — House is under construction

Richard Stamm, 108 Water St. — House is under construction

Photos