A POPULATION UNITED IN GRIEF
Author(s): Eun Lee Koh, Globe
Staff Correspondent Date: July 28, 2002 Page: 1 Section: Globe West
The morning sunlight trickled through cracks
between the boards covering the windows of Doyle's Star Package Store, and
caught the dusty remnants of the most destructive local explosion in recent
memory.
Aubrey Doyle stared out across the street to an
empty lot where a house once stood. He shook his head and paused before flipping
the sign on the door to indicate he was open for business. The day after what
officials say apparently was a natural-gas explosion ripped through a
four-family house in the heart of downtown, at 65 Main St., residents and school
and town officials pulled together to try to make sense of an accident that
killed two young sisters and left the 10 survivors without a home.
Residents rallied to set up a fund for the four
families who lost their possessions in the explosion, and another fund in memory
of 4-year-old Iris and 5-year-old Violet Carey, the girls who died in the blast.
School officials posted instructional guides for parents on the school Web site
about how to talk to their children about death and loss. Town officials made
trips to the site to survey the damage and pay their respects.
And, in early-morning light Thursday, a handful
of residents gathered at the site to recite the Lord's Prayer for the victims.
"How do you go on from something like
this?" Doyle said as he removed the remaining glass shards from the
storefront windows, which were damaged by the explosion. "No one ever
imagines something like this would ever happen. Never in a million years. I
don't know, but life keeps going on. I don't know, but it just does."
Jack Phelan, the superintendent of schools, was
on his way to Merrimack, N.H., to interview a candidate for high school
principal when he heard news of the explosion. Violet Carey was registered for
kindergarten at Center School, just a few blocks away from the house.
Phelan's afternoon was filled with speaking to
grief counselors, parents, and teachers, and discussing how they should handle
questions from students in September if they wonder why Violet isn't there.
"I can't tell you the amount of grief we
all feel at the loss of such a young life," Phelan said. "The
community has just suffered a tremendous tragedy, and we're still trying to
figure out how to cope with it. It's something people are going to talk about
for a while."
Marybeth Hay, a kindergarten teacher at the
Center School, said some parents had already taken their children to the site so
that they could talk to them about the events that occurred.
"I'm not really sure what kind of an
effect it will have on the young kids, but I know that there will be some
students with questions when school starts up again," Hay said. "It's
a really tricky and tragic situation. I'm trying to prepare myself as best I can
to talk to the children about it."
The magnitude of the explosion, which tore the
roof from the house, required the help of firefighters from five neighboring
towns, who arrived at the scene shortly after the blast at 1:40 a.m. Wednesday.
Firefighters from Ashland, Milford, Westborough, and Southborough, all members
of the Massachusetts Southern Fire District Technical Rescue, awoke in the
darkness to help the Hopkinton Fire Department. Firefighters from Marlborough
also assisted.
"It was one of those incidents that
required a tremendous coordinated effort," said Peter Chisholm, spokesman
for the district. "Because the firefighters from these towns were helping
Hopkinton, firefighters from other towns were covering for them in their own
towns. The accident set off a huge domino effect."
Eric Sonnett, the chairman of the Hopkinton
Board of Selectmen, was awakened by the explosion and arrived at the site in the
middle of the night. In the hours following, town officials discussed what could
be done for the families who had just lost their homes, and they decided to urge
residents to donate to the funds set up for the families.
"The empty space is really jarring,"
said Curtis Kinney, an Upton resident who stopped to survey the site on his way
to work Thursday morning. "I drive this road all the time. I couldn't have
even pointed this house out to you before, but there's no way I will forget
now."
Donations to The Violet and Iris Carey Memorial
Fund may be sent in care of Fleet Bank, 209 East Main St., Milford 01757, to
benefit their parents, Tara and Heath Carey. To benefit all four families who
lived in the house, donations may be sent to The Flower Fund, in care of
Middlesex Savings Bank, 10 Main St., Hopkinton 01748.
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