One couple works to secure housing after fire destroys their home in Franklin

Ashlynn Polk, left, and Cody Merchant.

Ashlynn Polk, left, and Cody Merchant. —Courtesy

By DANIEL SARCH

Laconia Daily Sun

Published: 01-14-2025 9:41 AM

FRANKLIN — A house fire at 137 Prospect St. displaced five residents and their dogs on the last Friday in December. Two residents, Ashlynn Polk and her fiancé Cody Merchant, were living on the third floor of the building. Now, they are residing in a hotel room in Concord, with their two dogs. In addition to immediate financial assistance from the American Red Cross, their friend Rachel Capek started an online fundraising campaign to assist them in their time of need, and other residents have come to their aid. Their next door neighbor even got them new items for their dogs.

“We had never met them or talked to them before, but they reached out to me, and they probably spent hundreds of dollars on dog beds, dog toys, treats, shampoo, literally, a whole load of things for my dog,” Polk said. “I have no more tears to cry, because I've been crying so much, and the generosity, it baffles me.”

The couple lost almost everything they own on Dec. 27, and what little that might be left is unable to be collected until they are cleared to enter the home. In the meantime, the fundraising campaign, titled “Help Ashlynn and Cody Rebuild After Fire,” has raised over $1,500, and has a goal of $10,000. The fundraising page also includes a link to an Amazon wishlist with items the couple needs, and is updated periodically.

“I've been trying to get everything organized and figure out what exactly we need. And it's kind of hard because we're not even allowed to go back into the house yet,” Polk said. “Once I can get in there and do that, it'll be a lot easier to be able to see what I actually need.”

Wishlist items so far include clothes, blankets, pillows and shoes. One unique item is acrylic paint. While Merchant works full-time in the geothermal wells industry, Polk is unable to work due to a back injury. She spends her time making art, which supplements the couple’s income. Due to smoke damage in the home, Polk lost a lot of her paintings.

“I have hundreds of paintings that I've put thousands of hours into that are all on fabric canvas,” she said. “That obviously cannot be cleaned.”

While the fire was contained to the first floor and the basement, smoke damage ruined the whole house. Polk did not realize how bad smoke damage is for a building.

“People don't realize what smoke damage is until you deal with it,” she said. “They think, 'OK, yeah, it just smells.' It doesn't smell like campfire. It doesn't just smell like smoke. It has a very, very bad smell to it.”

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The couple is staying in a hotel through the end of January as they figure out long-term housing, with him from the American Red Cross.

Jennifer Costa, the regional communications director for the American Red Cross of Northern New England, said the American Red Cross helps with short-term needs in situations like this one. This includes financial assistance, comfort kits that contain toiletries, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo and other essentials, as well as mental health resources. Beyond that, they try to connect victims to community partners for long-term assistance.

“Their community partners could be something like the United Way, or the Salvation Army, or Meals on Wheels. Those standard resources that may come to mind,” Costa said.

“And then we encourage people to reach out to their insurance companies, their landlords, if they have them, their family members, for additional help.”

Polk said they aren’t having much luck with long-term housing as rent prices are high, and finding a place that accepts tenants with dogs is tough.

“We don't have any place we could go because we have two dogs that we're absolutely not willing to abandon or board,” she said. “It's not a good situation, and very stressful."

The insurance company is still assessing the damage of the home, but Polk is not optimistic about what can be saved. Beyond the fire and smoke damage, she said firefighting efforts destroyed part of the building as well.

“What the fire department didn't destroy, the insurance company did destroy,” Polk said. “And we're really, really struggling, and really upset with that.”

Franklin Fire Chief Mike Foss spoke to the circumstances of the fire. The stove caught fire through a vent pipe inside the walls. Once the fire gets in through the pipes, firefighters must open the walls to get water on it. He also said due to the balloon framing of the house, where the wall studs run straight from the basement to the roof, the fire can spread very quickly throughout the house.

“If you don't open up the wall above where the fire is, the fire will keep growing,” Foss said. “And though it may start in the basement, it could very well end up in the roof or in the attic in no time.”

Despite the problems that the couple faces, they are grateful for the help the community has given them. Polk said the fire showed her a new light in life.

“It has really, really restored my faith in humanity.”

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