BERLIN, Mass — “I haven’t been this close,” said Dylan Clemmer, neighbor. Wednesday, May 3rd, was the first time Dylan Clemmer stood close to what was his neighbor’s house since an early morning back in April.
“The first thing out of my head is nobody is alive,” said Dylan Clemmer. An explosion blew a part the house on Pleasant Street in Berlin. And a fire quickly followed. “All you heard was ‘help, help, help,” said Clemmer. Inside were long-time neighbors Judy Christensen, who just turned 79, and her daughter, Jill.
“What you saw here was a roof and you took three steps up on and you were on top of a house,” said Clemmer pointing to where they found Jill. Dylan and his father had run over, and another neighbor joined.
“We just dug through all the rubble the three of us just kept on going until we got her hand,” said Brian Clemmer, neighbor. “Just yelling ‘don’t let me die here, just don’t.’ Just panicking everybody was and at that point we just keep going and digging.”
“By the time we found her we looked up and the flames had to have been six feet, five feet away,” said Dylan Clemmer.
They helped get her to the road and then a second explosion sent everyone back. Judy was still inside. “The first thing out of my mouth was we need to find Grandma Judy, and we didn’t the fire was already we had no time.” said Dylan Clemmer.
But Brian Clemmer believes the woman they called Grandma Judy had already passed and it was her spirit that helped the rest of them survive.
“Right time, right place everything lined up. Honestly, I believe her mother had a lot to do with it,” said Brian Clemmer.
Here, they go back decades as neighbors and that makes them family. “I am not a hero. I am just a good neighbor,” said Dylan Clemmer.
Investigators believe it was a propane or gas explosion.
The Clemmers said they have visited with the daughter Jill who only had minor injuries.
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