Urges residents to have escape plan; ‘I didn’t’
By Donna Beth Weilenman
Staff Reporter
Danny Levin fell in love with his future bride, Ellyn, in Chicago, as soon as he saw her at the University of Illinois, which they both attended. He was at her club’s open house in 1951.
Two days later, he asked her out on a date. Within two weeks, they were engaged. They were married June 8, 1952.
“I knew her 62 years,” he said Thursday.
But early Dec. 5, 2013, an electrical fire sent smoke into their Benicia bedroom, overcoming not only the couple, but also their little dog. A newspaper carrier reported the fire about 2:06 a.m. that day.
Firefighters pulled the couple and the dog out of their burning house on Larkin Drive. The Levins were sent initially to Kaiser Permanente Hospital, Vallejo, then to St. Francis Memorial Hospital, San Francisco, because it specializes in treating burns.
Ellyn fought her injuries until she thought she had lost her husband, who was in a coma three days. In fact, doctors had expected that of the two, she would make it.
But then, Levin said, Ellyn had a heart attack and succumbed. She would have been 83 on New Year’s Day.
“She was a wonderful wife, mother and partner,” Levin said. “A part of me is gone.”
Levin, who himself turns 83 Jan. 10, spoke Thursday about Ellyn, a former real estate agent who had been active in synagogue-affiliated women’s organizations wherever his career took them.
That included a suburb of Louisville, Ky. The couple moved there when General Electric sent Levin to work at its subsidiary in Appliance Park.
At the time, Louisville was opening its zoo, Levin said.
“They asked the sisterhood to raise money for the zoo,” he said, and Ellyn became active in the organization’s fundraising efforts. In fact, her work was instrumental in buying the zoo its first lion.
Levin, who earned his degree in chemical engineering and later became a research director, worked for succeeding companies, and the couple moved to Portland, Ore.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and finally to Benicia after Levin accepted a position with Imperial Chemical Industries, a British firm that sent him to its plant in nearby American Canyon.
At each city, Ellyn quickly became active in local synagogue organizations, particularly helping with the food, Levin said, as she enjoyed cooking and baking.
She also became a mother to their two sons.
The elder, Jerry, lives with his wife, Lois, in Sammamish, Wash., where both are professional photographers, Levin said. The younger is Marc, who lives with his wife in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where he works at Shell Oil Company.
Ellyn eventually tired of her real estate career, Levin said. “She hated it,” he explained.
Instead, she started a new career she loved, launching her own pet-sitting service, which she called “Going to the Dogs,” Levin said.
Levin worked at Imperial Chemical for five years, until he had a heart attack at 58. He stayed on disability until his retirement; the couple continued to live in Benicia until the tragic fire.
Levin and his dog, which recovered at a local veterinary clinic, are staying at a retirement center in Pleasant Hill while his home is rebuilt. His son Marc told Levin he expects the work to take about six months.
Once that is done, Levin will be able to return to Benicia. But he has a different view of his home now.
“I lost my love,” he said.
“The house and everything in it is unimportant now. What counted to me was my beautiful wife.”
His family has concluded its seven-day mourning period, called Shiva, during which mirrors are covered “so you don’t have to see how you look,” Levin said.
He used the time as a teaching opportunity, to urge friends and family members to learn from the tragedy.
“I said, ‘If you don’t have a plan for escape, get one. Plan your escape. Practice it until it is automatic,’” he said.
“I didn’t.”
Looking back, he said, he realized that when his home was filling with smoke, he could have opened a window and helped his wife and dog escape into the back yard.
It didn’t happen, he said.
“We passed out.” Even the dog was overcome, he said.
While the fire didn’t spread into the bedroom until much later, the smoke was drawn deeper into the house, probably by the heating unit, he said.
That became the biggest danger to the family, taking just two minutes to make them unconscious.
Levin is urging anyone with whom he speaks to make — and practice — an escape plan so that should danger strike, no one has to think of how to escape. They’ll know, because it would have become a familiar routine.
And he’s urging another thing.
“Tell your spouse you love him or her every day,” he said.
“I know she knew I loved her, but it’s so much better when you tell them. I have real regrets I didn’t tell her ‘I love you’ every day.”
Danny DeMars says
Such a tragic story. This house is near me and it saddens me every time I drive by it. God bless.
Karen LaRiviere says
Mr. Levin, I am so, so sorry for your tragic loss. I wasn’t sure when I heard the news if Mrs. Levin was the same sweet, wonderful woman who dog sat for me over 20 years ago, but your beautiful story confirmed it. I was single, living in Vallejo and my dog was my baby. When I had to leave town unexpectedly she assured me my dog would be well taken care of and boy was she. May you find peace in your beautiful memories.