Home for the holidays carries different meaning for Rustic Ridge residents this year

Rick Napoleon’s home felt so much bigger before it was gone.

A steel beam crossing the width of the foundation was the only thing above Napoleon’s head as he recently stood in what had been the garage and basement of his family’s home of 18 years.

The rest of the two-story, four-bedroom house was razed — so severely damaged by the Aug. 12 explosion on Rustic Ridge Drive in Plum that it could not be saved.

“It looks so small when it’s just a little shell,” Napoleon said, surveying his surroundings.

About two weeks before Christmas, little about this corner of Rustic Ridge, a sprawling subdivision of winding roads and cul-de-sacs, suggested it was the holidays. An absence of decorations was noticeable — because nobody was home.

Although the Napoleons’ house is the only one to have been torn down, several others in the immediate area are empty, in need of repairs before families can return.

Some residents, like the Napoleons, are spending Christmas in rental homes until they can move back. Others are staying with relatives.

Maintaining their holiday traditions and routines is important to some of the families, but others said they just need a break.

“This will be the first time in 20-some years that we’re not going to really do anything,” said Rafal Kolankowski, whose Brookside Drive home was damaged in the blast. “I’m not really sure what’s going to happen or how we’re doing it. At this point, I have no desire to really celebrate.”

A total of 13 families are displaced, said Greg Renko, president of the Rustic Ridge Homeowners Association. His family is one of two others that soon might be as they work through the insurance process to get their homes repaired. That would require moving out for a time.

“It seems like the majority of the rest of the neighborhood has done well and is recovering and comprehending what happened and embracing the Christmas season,” Renko said. “The back circle here, it’s just a different feel. There’s not a Christmas feel to this circle.”

‘It’s mind-boggling’

Napoleon and his wife, Beth, are preparing to rebuild their house, which was directly across the street from the home of Paul and Heather Oravitz. The Oravitz home was obliterated by the massive explosion on that quiet Saturday morning. The blast and resulting fire destroyed the homes on either side.

Investigators have yet to say how or why it happened. Their recent efforts have focused on conducting follow-up interviews and scheduling more reviews of evidence, said Matt Brown, chief of Allegheny County Emergency Services.

Heather Oravitz, 51, died that day, along with four friends and neighbors who had been in their home: Mike Thomas, 57; Kevin Sebunia, 55; and father and son Casey Clontz, 38, and Keegan Clontz, 12. Paul Oravitz, 56, died four days later.

Four months later, two pieces of heavy equipment behind a fence decorated with purple-and-gold ribbons were removing the debris and rubble of the Oravitz home, one using a magnet to recover metal. Charred and broken framing from part of the Thomas home was still standing.

The area was buzzing with activity as contractors worked to repair interior damage and, at one house, apply new siding. A living room window was an open hole at one house; a hole in the side of another was sealed with plastic.

Standing in his home’s barren foundation, Napoleon said it all felt surreal. His once-manicured lawn, which he always took great pride in, was muddy and torn up.

“It’s mind-boggling when you think about it,” he said. “I make a mortgage payment on this.”

After first staying with his grandmother in Squirrel Hill, Napoleon and his wife are now in a rental house in Murrysville, where they’ll spend Christmas with their three sons and live until their new home is ready. Their older boys, Anthony, 22, and Andrew, 19, are home for the holidays from West Virginia Wesleyan College; their youngest is Jack, 16.

They’re in a different house, but Napoleon said the family’s Christmas will be the same routine. While they’re home, Anthony and Andrew will work at the Pittsburgh Zoo; Jack will go to school until his break starts; Rick and Beth will work.

To decorate their temporary home for Christmas, the nonprofit Angels in DaSkys gave the Napoleons an artificial tree and ornaments.

“I love it. Every time I walk in the living room or walk by it, it just reminds me how great people are,” Napoleon said. “Next Christmas we’ll be in the house. We’ll get a new tree, and we’ll start new traditions.”

‘A difficult year’

The Napoleons’ next-door neighbors, the Zarrolis, went from a hotel to an extended-stay hotel and finally to a rental townhouse in Penn Township. Andy and Stacie Zarroli’s daughter, Mia, 18, and son, Mark, 20, are home from college for Christmas. Their oldest, Olivia, 24, lives in Washington, D.C., and will come up Saturday.

The townhouse is a little smaller than their house, but Andy Zarroli said it’s OK.

“We spent Thanksgiving here, and we’re looking forward to spending Christmas here,” he said. “It’s obviously going to be different, but at least we’re together and healthy.”

The Zarrolis will stay in and take it easy.

“It’s been a difficult year,” he said. “Just being together is a blessing.”

Repairs to the Zarroli home are about half-finished, said Doug Hubner, owner of Diamond Construction & Remodeling. He started in October and, because of various delays, aims to be done by March or April.

Hubner and his crews have been fixing damaged plaster, doors, windows and siding.

Yard signs that say “Prayers for Rustic Ridge” remain a common sight throughout Plum. But Zarroli said it was nice to see one in a neighbor’s yard near their rental in Penn Township.

“It’s been difficult,” he said. “So many people in my neighborhood have been through so much more. I consider myself lucky.”

Wanting ‘to get back to normal’

George Emanuele’s home is three doors up from the Oravitz home. He, wife Amber and son Hayden, 17, have been staying with Amber’s parents in Murrysville.

“Our holidays will be as normal as they can be,” he said. “Our holiday will be no different than any other year. I’m not too worried about that.”

Their builder said their house should be ready for them to return to early next year.

“At this point, we’re both excited and anxious to get back home,” George Emanuele said. “We want to get back to normal. We want to move back.”

About a third of the first floor, depending on what’s found inside the walls, and the entire second floor will be gutted and rebuilt. Most of the home will be the way it was, but they are making some changes, such as putting cabinets where a pantry had been.

Emanuele grew up in Plum. He and Amber were living in Philadelphia when Hayden was born. They moved back to Plum as their Rustic Ridge house was being built.

All three were home at the time of the explosion.

“It felt like somebody picked up and dropped my house,” he said. “It was so loud. The entire house shook.”

Taking a year off

Kolankowski’s home is downhill from the Oravitz house, four doors away and across Brookside Drive, a short cul-de-sac off Rustic Ridge Drive. He, wife Jennifer and Austin, 15, their youngest of three sons, were home the morning of Aug. 12.

“I thought somebody threw a grenade on my front porch and started shooting my house with a machine gun,” he said. “Glass was flying everywhere. It’s hard to describe it.”

After staying in a hotel for about a month or so, the family moved into a rental house in Murrysville. They have a full house now that their older sons, Tyler, 22, and Luke, 19, are home from college for Christmas break.

“It’s a very nice house. It’s a little bigger,” he said. But, he added, “It doesn’t feel like home. It feels like we’re almost in a vacation home waiting to get back to a real house.”

All of the siding, windows, walls, ceilings, carpeting and hardwood floors at their house have to be replaced, along with the garage doors. They hope to move back in February.

“It’s not like we have a choice. We have to move back in,” Kolankowski said. “Nobody’s going to buy the house right now.”

Usually, they have friends and family over on Christmas Eve. After what they’ve been through, they’re taking a break from the routine, Kolankowski said.

“I know my wife was hoping to get back for Christmas,” he said. “We need to take a year off this year and just do our own thing. Hopefully, next year we’ll get back to hosting Christmas Eve again and spending time at home during the holidays.”

Planning for a future

Rick Napoleon wasn’t on hand to watch his house be torn down over the course of two days, but his wife was, watching from across the street.

“We felt one of us should be here,” he said. “I had no desire to watch it be torn down.”

Although Napoleon said his builder believes the foundation is solid, some small cracks are visible in the block. The borough wants a structural engineer to check, just to be sure, he said.

“I’m all for it. I want to feel safe,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 thing about moving back here.”

On Dec. 12 — four months exactly after the explosion — the Napoleons met with their builder to see plans for their new home. It’s a simple design called “The Farmhouse,” he said. It’s the same square footage as their previous model but different in every other way — a new layout, three bedrooms instead of four, no shutters.

Their old house had a wide front porch. They often sat and exchanged greetings as neighbors walked by. They watched the neighborhood children learn to ride bicycles from that porch.

The model won’t have one. They can’t bear not seeing what once was.

“I can’t see us sitting on that front porch,” he said.

Across the street, the new siding on a damaged home was a different, darker color. The Napoleons’ previous siding was tan.

“We’re thinking blue (now),” Rick Napoleon said. “I think everybody wants a little change just so it doesn’t remind you.”