| Marguerite Kelly was sitting on the sofa in her home across the street from the Hog Island New Years Association clubhouse Friday afternoon when the ominous black clouds charged from the west. The churning sky carried the beginning of the end of last week's heatwave -- but not without a price. First, the rain pelted the pavement. Then, Kelly said, came an explosion of white light. "I jumped up and I saw everything," she said. The bolt had struck the roof of the clubhouse on the corner of Third & Cantrell Streets, causing a shower of sparks on the sidewalk in front of Kelly's home. the roof of the building began smoldering, she said. Joe Buggey, former president of the Hog Island Fancy Division and currently asssistant captain with the group came running from his home near fourth and Gladstone streets when he heard the news. By that time, firefighters were already on the scene. "I was in shock. I couldn't believe it was happening," Buggey said. "It was one of our biggest nightmares to come around and find fire trucks all over the place." The good news was none of the members werw in the building when the lightning struck. The bad news was all their costumes were. The second and third floors of the clubhouse were entirely used for storage. The rooms held racks of hangers draped with sequined suits and stacks of props for Hog Island, a club that dates back to 1942. On the third floor, which took the brunt of the fire damage, the fabric had burned off the headdresses of the groups trademark butterfly costumes, leaving behind wire skeltons. Other pieces simply melted. Among those destroyed were several award-winners, including a butterfly captain's costume called Nature's Wonder that took first place in 1996. The winning plaque still hung on the wall on the first floor. The second floor did not fare much better. Costumes stached there suffered smoke and water damage. Buggey said the association will not know for sure what is salvageable until members remove the items from the building, but they cannot do that until the insurance company assesses the damage. All of the gear on these two floors would have been used in the next New Year's Day Parade, Buggey said. THE ASSOCIATION'S FIRE insurance policy likely will cover the cost of materals for damaged and destroyed costumes Buggey said. t will not compensate for the time it took to make them. "There is no way to turn around and say one is worth $35,000 to me because I spent 150 hours on it," he said. Buggey estimated most of the outfits -- each constructed with elegant brocade and lames costing anywhere between $7 and $150 per yard -- were valued from $500 to $1,500 in materials alone. Members began working on Hog Island's new costumes for the upcoming parade in late June. The completed work had been stored on the clubhouses first floor on the tables hear the front door. Most of that can be saved with some cleaning and touchup work, Buggey said. The association's first-floor banquet hall, which had undergone extensive renovations during the last two years, suffered considerable water damage, but Buggey said it could have been worse if not for the caution of the firefighters. "They were very careful to step around things they didn't have to destroy," he said. "They didn't just come through here like gangbusters and push stuff our of the way. They did their job and were careful about things." Executive Chief William Brightcliffe of the Philadelphia Fire Department said trucks were dispatched at 3:37pm Friday, responding to a 911 call. He confirmed the fire started at the southeast corner of the property and was caused by sparks from a lightning strike. Hog Island already has received offers of support from fellow Mummers. Fancy Division rival Golden Sunrise offered some old suits and work space to make new costumes, and the Second Street Irish Society offered to provide some temporary storage space. Albeit tragic, the fire is only a setback, insisted Buggey. He and other members have promised they will be strutting on New Year's Day, if they have to march in their association jackets and umbrellas. "By hook or by crook, we'll be there," he said. "We're going to put our best foot forward." |
| Charred and feathered |
| One New Year's Association is picking up the pieces after a lightning strike torched it's clubhouse. |
| By: R. Jonathan Review Staff Writer |