'Like my adopted mom.' Neighbor remembers couple who perished in Dennis fire
Neighbor recalls couple who died as like family
Zane RazzaqDENNIS — Brianna Fage said her neighbors, Gina Champ and Edward Snell, were not her "biological family but we shared a wall for the past six years." They were a couple, Fage said.
"Gina was like my adopted mom and my mom was Gina's adopted kid basically. She'd show up with groceries all the time, she'd show up with little gifts all the time for us," said Fage, 19. "Ed would always try to help out around the house, because he knows my mom is a single mom, and help out with the yard work and stuff."
Champ, 63, and Snell, 60, died after an early morning fire Sunday at a Niblick Street blue duplex where Fage and her family live in the next-door unit.
Firefighters arrived to see smoke billowing from the two-story wood-framed duplex. Crews entered the house, put out the fire, and discovered two badly injured people. Both were taken to Cape Cod Hospital but they later died of their injuries. The two people were identified publicly Sunday by the Cape and Islands District Attorney's office.
A dog was also killed in the fire.
"I woke up 6:32 a.m. on the dot, jumped up, and said, 'That's a fire, not something burning,' and we all ran out of the house. We went to go get them because we could smell a fire," said Fage while sitting in a car outside the duplex. "I ran to the kitchen to get Gina and it was just smoke. There's nothing I could have done at that point."
Fage was also critical of media coverage, saying she and her family were trying to cope with grief while bombarded with reporters, and said she was thankful to Dennis police for what she called a respectful response.
Owners of the duplex could not be reached for comment Monday.
The Dennis fire chief said there were no working smoke alarms on that side of the Niblick Street duplex.
Cape and Islands District Attorney Robert Galibois' office said on Sunday the cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious. Assistant District Attorney Russell Eonas said the cause remains under investigation.
The origin and cause of the morning fire are under investigation by the Dennis Fire Department, Dennis Police Department, and State Police investigators assigned to the offices of the Cape & Islands District Attorney and the state fire marshal.
Dennis Fire Chief Robert Brown could not be reached for comment, but in a statement on Sunday he said "we know there were no working smoke alarms in the unit where it began."
“Please check your smoke alarms today to be sure they’re working properly on every level of your home,” said Brown in the statement.
Fage said "our fire alarm is the reason we heard it."
Firefighters contained the fire to where it started.
Yarmouth Fire Department provided mutual aid at the scene while the Harwich Fire Department covered the station.
"Our grandparents basically just passed...I really cared for them," said Fage.
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.
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