VERO BEACH, Fla. — A Treasure Coast couple is picking up the pieces after a devastating house fire destroyed their home and the Montessori school they had run out of it for more than a decade.
Randy and Sandy Hamerick say it was an ordinary morning in Vero Beach when they suddenly heard a strange noise coming from their garage.
“We were having coffee, and we heard something we’d never heard before,” Sandy recalled.
When Randy went to check, he saw a glow through the door.
“I could see an orange glow through the crack of the door,” he said. “Nothing I could do. We just turned around, and whatever we had in our hands we bolted out the backdoor.”
The couple escaped with their lives, but they could only watch as flames consumed everything they had built.
“Only thing we could do was watch the house burn,” Randy said.
The fire took more than just their belongings. Sandy, a longtime educator, had run a Montessori school inside their home for 15 years. The school was a staple for local children in the community.
“My mom passed away a year ago on Memorial Day. I had all of her things in the garage… and now those memories of her life they’re gone,” Sandy said. “I had collected so many wonderful things for the classroom. My office was upstairs everything was stored there… and it’s all gone.”
The couple is now focused on rebuilding. They say this time, the home will be made of stone instead of wood. Sandy also hopes to find a temporary space so she can offer summer school for her students.
Despite their loss, the Hamericks say they’ve been overwhelmed by support from neighbors and community members who have shown up to help in any way they can.
“It’s hard,” Randy said. “But we’re trying to put it behind us and move on.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
