VERMILLION TOWNSHIP – After the local couple lost their home and four beloved pets in a house fire at 720 County Road 1754 Tuesday evening, Ginny and Greg Telego are still reeling.
Greg had left home for a shift at Home Depot a little before 6 p.m.
About two hours later, around 7:40 p.m., Greg’s wife, Ginny, came home to a nightmare.
“I came down the road and saw smoke, and when I got close to my house I saw that it was my house,” Ginny said. “There was just smoke everywhere, coming out of every place.”
As Ginny waited for firefighters to arrive, a passerby stopped to help. He kicked in the back door in an attempt to help Ginny save her three Australian Shepherds, but the dogs were already dead. One of Telego’s two cats also died in the fire. The other escaped.
“Then my husband got home and we just sat there and watched our lives go up in flames,” Ginny said. “It’s a pretty surreal feeling.
“You see it happen on TV or in the news. It happens to other people, and you think of how horrible it is, and you feel incredible empathy for people. When it happens to you, I don’t even know how to describe it. Neither one of us can.”
But if there’s one feeling the Telego’s want to convey, it’s their gratitude for what they still have and for the overwhelming outpouring of support from the Ashland community.
“We’re grateful that both of us are okay. My horses were okay, and that’s my business,” said Ginny, who is founder and president of leadership and team development consulting company The Collaboration Partners. A component of that business is Wager’s Way, which offers equine-assisted programming.
Ginny’s office was in her home, but with her barn and horse intact, she expects to be able to continue operating the business. Ginny also works part-time as executive director of Leadership Ashland and as director of diversity programs and overseer of Impact Youth Council at Ashland County Community Foundation.
Greg is sourcing and compliance coordinator at Hedstrom and also works part-time at Home Depot.
In the 24 hours after the blaze, the pair have been overwhelmed by what Ginny describes as “the amazing amount of love and support that the community has shown to us.”
The Telegos are especially grateful to the firefighters who attempted to save their pets and worked hard to contain the fire.
Joe Lyons, who runs the Facebook page Ashland County Pictures, was posting live updates from the scene of the fire almost immediately.
“Within a half an hour of this going up on his page, people who don’t even know us were wanting to know what they could do to help,” Ginny said. “It just has ballooned from there.”
A neighbor quickly offered the Telegos a place to stay. Family and friends all over the country as well as complete strangers have been reaching out. A Go Fund Me account was set up, and friends even coordinated arrangements for people to bring food to the family.
“Things like that are why Ashland is such an incredible community,” Ginny said.
The house and its contents are essentially a total loss, according to officials from the Hayesville Fire Department.
Ginny said she and Greg were able to salvage a few personal items, but the home and most of their belongings are beyond repair.
The fire remains under investigation, but there are no initial signs of foul play, a Hayesville Fire Department official said.
Fire departments from Jeromesville, Mifflin and Ashland all assisted Hayesville with the fire. The local chapter of American Red Cross also responded to help the family.
Because of Ginny’s connection to the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Ashland program, chamber president Barbie Lange sent an email to chamber members calling for the community to support the Telegos by giving gift cards or monetary donations.
Gift cards may be dropped off at the Chamber office, 211 Claremont Ave., during business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Suggested stores at which to buy gift cards for the family include Walmart, Centerra, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Fin Feather & Fur Outfitters, Farm & Home Hardware, The Old Elevator or any Ashland area restaurants and drug stores.
To support the family financially, visit the Go Fund Me page www.gofundme.com/f/telego-house-fire. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, donors had given more than $5,000 toward a $10,000 goal.
