MIDDLETON — It was just before 11 a.m. on June 17 when smoke alarms began beeping in Ron and Kim Supino’s Liberty Street home.
They didn’t smell smoke and wondered if it could be carbon monoxide. They tried pressing the smoke detector’s button to see if it was a fluke, as it appeared to be.
Then, Kim saw smoke coming from the garage.
What happened next ruined their home of 34 years and upended their lives. But it also showed the couple, who own the popular Supino’s Italian Restaurant in Danvers and a real estate business, how caring their community could be.
“The generosity has been overwhelming,” Ron said.
Upon seeing the smoke that morning, the couple ran outside and called 911. Ron wondered if the flames had sparked from his truck, which he thought he might have left running. He had just come back from Costco with planters and had been in the garage sweeping out dirt from his truck bed 30 minutes before.
Also in his truck were six new smoke detectors that he had planned to install in some of his real estate properties later that day.
Firefighters arrived and began attacking the blaze. The couple watched as the garage blackened and smoke poured out of the home’s front door. By the time the fire was out, the garage was severely damaged, the cars were gone and other parts of the home had sustained serious smoke and water damage.
Almost immediately, the offers of help began pouring in.
The Supinos were offered food, cars and money. People sent them baskets and flowers. A friend invited them to stay in an empty house he was planning to sell. The American Legion, which the Supinos donate to, tried to give them donations. Like the other offers of money, Ron declined to take it.
“We are very fortunate. We have no need,” Ron said. “I can’t stress that enough. We both have jobs, we have income, so that hasn’t changed. It’s just a little thing that we have to replace.”
Seeing their home in its charred state has still been difficult. Especially after a second fire broke out June 26.
“We were both working and people are saying, ‘Ron, your house is on fire again. It’s on Facebook,’ and, I’m thinking they’re still talking about the fire that happened,” he recalled. “Then I read (the post), and it said it was the same house as last week.”
“I just went, ‘Oh my god.’”
The second fire turned the garage into a shell and spread further into the home this time, even melting the refrigerator.
Thankfully, the Supinos had already removed most of their clothes and other necessities. And just the day before that second fire, Ron had taken out the family photos, many of which are too old to be saved on a hard drive or camera roll.
“Before all this, I used to say that if anything ever happened like this, I’d grab the family, the dog, and the pictures off the wall,” Ron said. “Well, it’s just my wife and I there now and the dog’s gone. I didn’t even think twice about the pictures. I just said to get out.”
It’s not officially clear what sparked the original fire, but investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s office told the Supinos it was likely started by a drill battery.
Ron always keeps this tool and batteries for it in his car in case he needs to do work at his properties or the restaurant, he said.
He’s still working with his insurance company to determine if the home can be stripped down to its studs and repaired or if it will need to be rebuilt completely.
The couple has found a temporary residence in Rowley and are working on buying new cars. It’s been a long few weeks with longer ones ahead until they can move back home, but Ron is choosing to think positively.
“You pick up the pieces and you move on,” he said. “I keep saying it’s not cancer. For people that go through that, it’s just so much more stress. We’re okay. We’ll be fine.”
And to the people who have reached out to help?
“I can’t thank them enough,” he said, choking up around the words. “We feel loved.”
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com .