North Fork Opens Hearts To Help After Fire: 'It's A Family'

Find out what's happening in North Forkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

“This is one of the worst crises of my life — and I’ve had a few,” she said. “The only thing that’s really keeping me going is friends, family, and generous people.”

She added: “It’s a family. I mean, I have 35 first cousins” — the crowd laughed — “but I feel like everyone here is my cousin. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

Saturday, November 16, started out like any other Saturday for Mary McCabe, 65, who awoke as always in her beloved Greenport home. She followed her morning ritual — made a cup of coffee, read the newspaper and did the puzzles, washed some dishes, folded laundry.

Not feeling well, McCabe, who has been disabled since 1999, laid down to rest and fell asleep.

And in a heartbeat, her life changed forever — as a fire engulfed her Angler Road house, leaving her with nothing.

In the aftermath, the community has come together to wrap her in their arms and hearts.

A GoFundMe, “Help Missy (Mary) McCabe After Tragic Fire And Loss”, was created by her friend Robert McInnis.

“Many of us know Missy (Mary) McCabe as a generous and compassionate longtime Greenport resident who has always been there for others in the community. After a recent devastating fire destroyed her home and claimed the life of her beloved cat, Missy has been living in a temporary mobile home while enduring the wind and elements. She was reluctant to ask for support, but so many people were asking for a way to help Missy, we created this GoFundMe for her,” he said.

To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

McCabe described that dark day to Patch. Woken from a sound sleep, she heard the smoke detectors blaring. “I walked to the back of the house and I could see the whole Florida room; it was black with smoke,” she said. “I couldn’t see flames, but I could hear glass breaking. There were seven windows and sliding glass doors in that room.”

Having worked as a registered nurse since she was 19, the head nurse of the emergency room at Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, McCabe said she has always been very conscious of safety, religiously unplugging toasters and other appliances. But nothing prepared her for the nightmare unfolding on that November Saturday.

“I was terrified,” she said. “I ran back to my bedroom to try and get my cat Minnie. I tried to get her out of the house, but the house was so full of smoke, I couldn’t get her. By that time, the house was filling with smoke. I just knew I had to go — or wasn’t going to make it.”

She added: “I just walked out in pajamas, a T-shirt and cotton pants and no shoes.”

Outside, a group of people had gathered, watching the smoke; McCabe called 911.

“I was walking around in a daze. I got a piece of snow fence, a steel pole, and I used that to break my bedroom window, to try and call my cat.”

Her voice breaking, McCabe said, “My cat died.”

The loss echoes: “I’m so upset. I live alone, and Minnie was always lying next to me on the couch while I watched TV. It’s just lonely,” she said. Her cat had been 14, a rescue from Kent Animal Shelter.

The flames were so fierce that the vinyl siding on the house next door also ignited.

Despite the enormity of the loss, McCabe said. “I am grateful I survived. Without those smoke detectors, I don’t think I would have.”

Currently, McCabe is living in a mobile home on her property, which was provided by her insurance company. “The house was a total loss,” she said. “I lost everything.”

For McCabe, the house symbolized so much more than just a home — it was a haven she’d lovingly filled with photographs and memories, a place she’d worked tirelessly to pay for, to purchase all on her own — a symbol of strength and independence.

“I bought this home on October 11, 1996,” McCabe said. “I was pregnant. I did it on my own. I bought it myself and I paid it off myself. It was not easy, but I did it.”

So much was lost: A deck, newly redone last summer. “That’s gone,” she said.

Precious photos, destroyed. “Priceless things,” she said. “Things that had my grandmother’s handwriting. Valentine’s Day cards, Mother’s Day cards and birthday cars my father gave to his mother, kept in an antique box — my cards and valentines from my son.”

Her father had been the first cello player in the orchestra at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, McCabe said. “The cello burned up. That broke my heart.”

She added: “I play the guitar, and we lost some very valuable guitars. Valuable artwork on the walls.”

But losing possessions are not the worst thing a person can endure, not by far, said McCabe, a nurse who has seen so much tragedy and trauma that the memories still haunt. “What would have been worse would have been lying in the hospital with 80 percent of my body burned,” she said.

Nursing was her touchstone: In 1999, she won the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council Nurse of Excellence Award.

Despite the losses, McCabe said: “I have to keep refocusing and saying to myself, ‘You’re here.'”

In the face of the unthinkable, the North Fork community opened its hearts and arms to help.

Mullen Motors donated two new keys for the vehicles to replace those, heavy with smoke, that survived the blaze.

“People are so kind; it’s amazing,” McCabe said.

The owners of Billy’s by the Bay held a 50/50 raffle to benefit her. The Knights of Columbus have come forward. And now, there is the GoFundMe and the Chinese auction.

Despite the heavy grief that renders her speechless still, weeks after the fire, McCabe is a survivor. She is focused on finding her way forward, despite the grief.

Click Here: ireland rugby jerseys

Even during the hardest days of her life, McCabe said she has been a self-professed “do-gooder,” walking the neighborhood, helping the elderly, working with the homeless, baking cakes and spreading cheer — and hope. “I try to help people,” she said.

Now, those neighbors and friends have come together in droves to raise her up in her darkest hour. “The North Fork is an amazing family,” McCabe said. “They stick together — and they take care of their own.”

Special thanks to McInnis Digital, a leading North Fork website design company, for supporting the Patch community. You can reach out to the Greenport marketing agency at 631-903-4688.

Want to spotlight your business? Sponsoring Patch connects your name to the trusted stories your neighbors love every day. Learn more by contacting Lisa Finn at [email protected] or 917-224-2809.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.