RANDOLPH — A grease fire destroyed a two-bedroom, single-story house located at 31 Maple St. on Friday night.
Around 6 p.m. on Friday, Jeff Hurlburt and his son, Travis, were cooking some French fries in their kitchen to go with dinner. As Travis Hurlburt stepped out of the kitchen to let their Siberian husky, Bailey, outside, Jeff Hurlburt went to use the bathroom. He returned from the bathroom a few minutes later to find a massive “pile of flame blasting out of” the pan of oil.
He tried to turn off the stove, but he burned his hand and was forced to retreat. The fire began to spread, and the father and son quickly fled the home.
“Everything happened so quick,” Jeff Hurlburt said.
He dialed 911 and his niece, Chelsea Maxham, an officer for the Randolph Police Department, was the first to arrive at the scene, followed by the Randolph Village Fire Department, Vermont State Police and fire departments from several neighboring towns.
Maxham escorted her uncle, 63, to Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, where he received treatment for smoke inhalation and second-degree burns on his left hand as well as minor burns on his chest and head.
Travis Hurlburt, 37, and Bailey, the husky, escaped the fire unharmed.
The house is considered a total loss, Jeff Hurlburt said. For now, he and his son are staying at My Place Hotel on Route 66 in Randolph.
Located a 12-minute walk from the center of town, the Maple Street home is valued at $118,000 according to town records from 2024.
Jeff Hurlburt bought the house in 1997. He retired last May after a 31-year career at Vermont Castings, a manufacturer of cast iron stoves, followed by several years of working the overnight shift at Shaw’s.
He’s recently been receiving treatment for melanoma, though his last scans “looked very good,” he said.
Because of the disease, he’s been juggling medical bills on top of paying for utilities and other expenses.
Letting his home insurance lapse felt like one way to cut costs.
“You never think anything is going to happen,” he said.
He hopes he’ll still be able to live on the property, in a trailer, or a new home, though he’s not sure when that would be.
“I’d love to still be a homeowner,” he said.
Over the weekend, Maxham set up a GoFundMe to help the Hurlburts purchase belongings, pay for temporary housing and eventually rebuild the home. As of Monday, the GoFundMe had received a little over $3,000 in donations, one third of its goal. Donations can be made by going to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jeff-travis-hurlburt-rebuild-after-fire.
The Maple Street fire was the second house fire in the Upper Valley last week.
Last Wednesday, a fire destroyed a house on Route 113 in Vershire. Residents Jen Dunham and Fred Eastman and the couple’s beagle made it out of the house safely, but their black lab and two cats perished.
A GoFundMe to help the couple buy food and clothes and secure temporary housing has raised $357 as of Monday. To make a donation, go to https://gofund.me/5b67e751b.