Michael Magrath Apartment Fire

I'm Michael Magrath's main squeeze. I live in an apartment in Amherst, MA, and he lives up the road in Montague.

At 3 am on Thanksgiving morning, he and the other tenants of 9 Dry Hill Road were awakened by a fast-moving fire that took 100 firefighters to contain. His apartment, which he has lived in for over ten years, was saved from burning only by drenching it in six inches water. Over the past week, during which Michael worked overtime at the DuBois Library at UMASS, an inch of rain on the now-roofless building damaged more of his possessions.

This past weekend, Michael began the long slog of salvaging his possessions from a dark (no electricity), cold, wet, smoke-smelling apartment with buckled floors and parts of the ceiling falling in. Michael is set for short-term housing, but he will need money for a new apartment, either in a rebuilt 9 Dry Hill Rd or elsewhere, and will need to rent a unit to store any salvageable possessions, plus buy storage bins for anything perishable that may have survived the fire and water. He will need a new mattress and box spring as well. He doesn't have renters insurance.

Folks who know Michael all know how generously he gives his time to his friends and community - everything from volunteering with the Montague Center Fire Department, serving on the Board of Franklin County Restorative Justice, Maestro-ing the Rendezvous Quiz and Bingo Nights in Turners Falls, to grilling vast quantities of food for friends and baking cakes for the student employees of the UMASS library.

He is reticent about asking for help, but this has been a blow to him. Your messages of caring and concern, and many offers of help, have been keeping him going. We would be most grateful for any help you can give.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.