HARRISON – Walter and Rebecca Connell are remarkably calm as they speak about the fire that destroyed their garage last Thursday.
“You can’t let it get you down because you can’t get anywhere,” Rebecca said.
The two say they are open for business, despite losing about $250,000 – which includes the cost of the building and equipment inside it.
“It’ll slow us down,” Rebecca admitted. But the motto they’re going by is: “We burnt down, but we haven’t burnt out.”
The two have run a junkyard called Connell’s Auto Collection off Route 117 for five years. During those years, they had gradually invested more into their business of hauling used cars to sell parts. Much of that investment, including many new tools, is now gone. Very little of it was insured, they say.
One of the two vehicles lost in the fire was a pickup truck Walter was fixing for his brother whose New Orleans home was ruined in the floods of Hurricane Katrina. His brother and family had hoped to drive back home soon, Walter said.
When the fire began in the early morning hours, Walter rushed to the garage to try to save two vehicles parked nearby – the plow truck and car hauler.
Much to the family’s horror, Walter ran right to the fire, and in order to start the plow truck, he poured gasoline into the carburetor. The fire was so hot that the passenger side door was welded shut, they said.
“We weren’t that happy about that,” Rebecca said, about Walter’s act of heroism.
Walter saved both vehicles, which sustained some damage that is covered by insurance.
The Connells – Rebecca is 52 and Walter 56 – have four kids living at home, and they share 18 between them from previous marriages, they said.
They are optimistic, upbeat and undaunted by their loss. They plan to buy a Quonset hut for $3,500 in which to run their operation, and to do what they can with what they have left.
“Piece by piece,” Rebecca said about their plans to rebuild their business.
And they’ll get by on some grit and a little bit of humor, too.
“We get down about some things, but then we kick each other around and pick it up,” Rebecca said.
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