SCIOTA — Adrien and Sharon Dutil have built their lives around their country store, D&D Meats.
The Sciota couple have spent more than 30 years living in their sprawling home just next door to the market and raised their three kids there, eventually making D&D Meats a true family business, one of the oldest in Clinton County.
And in a matter of minutes, their years of hard work went up in flames early Friday when a fire ignited in a rear section of the store, sending smoke and flames billowing through the market, two upstairs apartments and the Dutils' attached home.
ALL ESCAPED FLAMES
"I opened the (back) door and saw the smoke," Mrs. Dutil said later Friday morning as she surveyed the charred remnants of the market.
Mr. Dutil alerted his wife to the growing fire, and they ran to awaken their granddaughter, who was visiting from out of state, and pull their pets from the smoky home.
The family escaped without injury and made it outside as their upstairs tenant, Brian Yates, was running to get them out.
Their other tenant has been staying with an ailing relative and was not home, Mrs. Dutil said.
HEAVY SMOKE
After calling 911, the Dutils waited outside as crews from nearly a dozen area departments rushed to the burning landmark.
"There was heavy smoke showing when we got here," Chazy Fire Chief Mike Cahoon said as crews worked to investigate the blaze and salvage what they could.
More than 70 volunteers from the Chazy, West Chazy, Altona, Beekmantown, Champlain, District 3, Ellenburg Depot, Rouses Point and St. Paul, Quebec, fire departments responded to the 1:30 a.m. call on Route 22, spending several hours working to calm the flames.
HOME SAVED
Though the store and apartments were heavily damaged, the firefighters fast action saved the Dutils' home, which was built in the 1840s.
With little wind, Cahoon said, volunteers were able to attack the flames without much external difficulty, though crews were plagued by the lingering evening humidity and hampered by the wooden building's aging construction.
"Despite everything that was working against us, we consider this a good save. Their home has some smoke damage, but it was saved."
Mrs. Dutil said a fire wall separated their house and store and likely helped firefighters save their home.
'GREAT JOB'
Her son, Shane, who helps his parents run the store, rushed to their side within minutes of the fire and credited volunteers for their swift action.
"They did a great job. I can't say it enough. They had great teamwork and did a really good job."
The smell of burning wood lingered in the air later Friday as state and county fire investigators probed the cause and inspected the point of origin, which appeared to be in a back section of the store.
WORRIED ABOUT TENANTS
As she coped with the aftermath of the fire, Mrs. Dutil was concerned about her tenants, especially Yates, who doesn't have renter's insurance and fled his apartment with only the clothes he was wearing.
He is now staying at an area hotel as he recovers, she said.
FAMILY HELP
She also expressed gratitude to area firefighters for saving her home, which they have recently been busy refurbishing.
"We have a lot of great firefighters around here, and they did an incredible job."
Mrs. Dutil was supposed to fly her granddaughter home Friday afternoon but said the girl's father is now returning to his hometown to help his parents during the difficult time.
She said her granddaughter and pets were shaken after the fire but doing OK under the circumstances.
'DEVASTATING'
As for the Dutils, who were insured, they hope to one day rebuild and know that community support will help pull them through.
"It's pretty devastating, but the good thing is that we all got out and no one was hurt," Mrs. Dutil said after the fire.
"I mean, this is our livelihood. This is our first fire and hopefully our last."
E-mail Andrea VanValkenburg at: avanvalkenburg@pressrepublican.com
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