Jennifer Johnson was on her way to bed on Dec. 6 in Deer Harbor, but she wouldn’t get much sleep that night.

“I saw some smoke upstairs and there was some smoke coming out of a chimney area. The smoke alarms started going off and I went directly to 911,” Johnson said.

The emergency response call was dispatched around 9 p.m. to the Channel Road home of Tom Averna, owner and operator of Deer Harbor Charters, who was not home at the time.

Johnson said she grabbed her four pets, said a prayer, and waited for the fire department. She didn’t see any flames, but the smoke kept getting worse.

“Time freezes. You have no sense of time,” Johnson said.

Responder Dwight Guss, who lives just minutes away, was at home sitting down to read the Sunday newspaper when he got the page.

“When the tone goes out for fire, I usually am out the door already,” Guss said.

Averna was in Florida preparing for a sailing trip to the Bahamas when he heard the news. After hearing of the fire in the attached garage, Averna said Johnson handled the crisis well.

“When I talked to her, she was as calm as a cucumber. I probably would have ran down to try to put out the fire myself and the smoke was so heavy I don’t think anyone would have lasted very long,” Averna said.

There were cold temperatures and high winds when Guss and responder Seth Ybarra arrived at the scene in six minutes with the Deer Harbor W.A.S.P. engine. Robin Dyer, Chad Kimple, and 14 other responders followed.

“It was a fantastic fire department response,” Johnson said.

The Channel Road fire was the first fire call that employed Deer Harbor’s new W.A.S.P. engine. At the fire board of commissioners meeting on Tuesday night, lieutenant Paul Turner explained that the engine, which is designed for steep, rural areas and outfitted with compressed air foam, worked well for this fire.

“The big engines could not have made that driveway. Exactly what was envisioned came to pass,” Turner said.

Averna said it is strange to be so far away from his home right now but is glad to know that no one was hurt. A housesitter, Raven Sky, was staying there at the time of the fire and also lost clothing and personal items, but got out okay.

“The house is closed down and in the dark. It’s kind of a weird feeling,” Averna said. “The animals are my number one concern right now, but we have everyone and everyone’s okay.”

Johnson stayed up most of the night with the pets, two older dogs and two cats. The fire crew worked until 1 a.m. to secure the home.

“The garage was totally cooked,” Johnson said.

The main house was not fire damaged but smoke permeated the interior, which may need to be repainted and recarpeted.

“It smells like you burned dinner,” Johnson said. “That soot is black, like fireplace soot everywhere, all over my bookkeeping and photos. The firemen were unbelievably wonderful,” Johnson said.

“That’s why I’m doing this – to help out my community,” Guss said.

Both Averna and Johnson are grateful for the many ways their neighbors have lent a helping hand. They made special note of the assistance provided by Howard and Sheila Barbour, Bob and Meg Conner, and Vickie Kimple.

“What do you do when it’s 11:30 at night and they’re still working on the flames and you don’t have a place to sleep?” Johnson said.

She said the experience gave her a reminder.

“Always be nice to your neighbors,” she said. “It’s a big community thank-you.”