Fire Destroys McCarrick Family Home, But Not Their Spirit

The pre-Christmas fire that destroyed the McCarrick family home at 101 Twin Oaks home has not destroyed their spirits. The devastating Dec. 23 fire, which took the Kings Park fire department 45 minutes to get under control, did not cause serious injury, but did cause serious damage to the family home. All occupants including two family pets were able to safely flee the burning home.

“Believe it or not, this was the best Christmas we ever had,” said Charleen McCarrick.

The family plans to return to its Twin Oaks address, but for now they are temporarily living in a furnished home in Smithtown as the house they lost in the fire is rebuilt.

“We are all doing well and settling in. Looking forward to rebuilding our home,” said McCarrick, who suffered a foot injury during the fire.

Many area businesses, organizations and families aided the McCarricks in their time of need, many never even having met the family. Trish Dwyer-Johnston was one of those people.

“My daughter Jessie got news on a text that a schoolmate’s house burnt down. She said the name was McCarrick and that she and their girl Jessica were in a class together last year,” said Dwyer-Johnston. She took action, creating a donation event on her Facebook page, informing people of what took place. At the time, Dwyer- Johnston hadn’t even met the family.

As fate would have it Dwyer-Johnston met Bill McCarrick on Christmas Eve in an unplanned meeting.

“I stopped into Professor’s Diner to catch up with (owner) Kevin Denis about the overwhelming number of donations we received,” said Dwyer-Johnston.

Unbeknownst to both Denis and Dwyer-Johnston, Bill McCarrick was sitting at the counter. McCarrick noticed the bags of clothing and donations coming in and wondered if they were talking about his family. McCarrick inquired to Denis about it and they all realized what was happening. Denis poured more coffee as Dwyer-Johnston gave McCarrick a hug.

This summer the Dwyer-Johnston family will light a candle at Jessica McCarrick’s sweet sixteen party in honor of the help that Dwyer-Johnston provided.

“This experience of reaching out to help someone has unraveled in a way that I never expected. It is extraordinary,” said Dwyer-Johnston.

The McCarrick family contacted Patch to help express their gratitude and thanks for the outpouring of support and generosity. We would like to oblige. Click here to read the letter the McCarrick family has written to the entire Kings Park community.