After devastating fire 18 months ago, storefront K&N Plumbing ‘gets back up’ in Worcester

WORCESTER – When Mark J. Ruffo watched his plumbing company go down in flames in the fall of 2019, he thought of what his old trainer Angelo T. Papas had told him years earlier.

“My soccer coach always said:” I can tell a good soccer player from a man who gets knocked down but gets up again, “said Ruffo.” It doesn’t matter if you get knocked down. You have to get up again. “

Ruffo, who graduated from Worcester Boys’ Trade High School in 1972, has owned K&N Plumbing and Heating and the building where the company is located at 159 Water Street for 46 years.

On October 10, 2019, a fire destroyed the facade of the building and the upper two floors of the then four-story building.

In October 2019, with the help of the wind, flames broke through the building at 159 Water Street.

Papas would have been proud of Ruffo. When he was knocked down, Ruffo actually got up again.

Eighteen months after the fire, Ruffo is back in the same place in the store. The old building was demolished and a new one in the same place. He never thought of leaving.

Ruffo vividly remembers the day of the fire.

“Someone came in and said your building was on fire in the back … When I looked up, I saw the fire. It was high up, but it was very small, ”Ruffo recalled. “The wind took it (the fire) and put it in the soffit. And then it just exploded. ”

At the time of the fire, Ruffo and one of his workers, Tommy McConville, were knocking on doors to make sure no one was home in the two three-bedroom apartments above the store. When they got to the third floor, alarms went off, which meant the fire was inside, he said.

“I’ve had tenants who have been there for more than 25 years, maybe 30 years,” said Ruffo. “You were long-term tenants. You have been here for years and years. I’ve seen their children grow up. “

It turned out that no one was home.

“We originally wanted to save the first floor, but couldn’t. too much structural damage, ”said Ruffo. “We had two chimneys that went through the building. And when they pulled on one of the chimneys, he didn’t stay together. It went down and smashed all the floor joists. And to fix that, it wasn’t worth it. “

Joe Ruffo and his father, Mark J. Ruffo, owners of K&N Plumbing and Heating, in their rebuilt business on Water Street after a fire in 2019.

Despite losing $ 344,000 worth of inventory due to the fire, K&N Plumbing and Heating opened the next day.

At first, Ruffo ran business from a garage space that survived the fire. Then he moved the business to a rented caravan with the nickname “Peach Tree”, which was stationed on the farm.

Ruffo said it was important for him to stay open.

“I didn’t want to lose my customers,” said Ruffo. “We have a lot of things that other people don’t have, even the big suppliers. They are not interested in selling what I am selling. They want you to spend $ 400 to $ 500. Glad you come in here and spend $ 30-40. If I do this often enough, I can make a living. “

Ruffo said the insurance company’s agent was shocked that he plans to rebuild and continue the business.

The insurance man said, ‘We’ll give you the money. Then you can go away. ‘I said, “I’m not going away.” One of my boys has been downstairs with me for 35 years. What will he do? My son likes this business and is only 40 years old. What is he gonna do? “Said Ruffo. “I have grandchildren who could get into this business. I will not force them. If they do something else that’s fine, but they can always come here and make a living. “

Ruffo is loyal not only to its employees but also to its customers, so its regular customers were another big reason why it wasn’t an option to shut down the business after the fire and use the insurance money on anything other than a remodel.

“Many of my customers, their fathers, were my customers. Now her sons are my customers, ”said Ruffo. “It’s like a big family. Everyone knows everyone. “

One thing that K&N Plumbing and Heating ensures that the big stores don’t carry plumbing accessories and fittings for triplane.

And since Worcester is known for its triplane, Ruffo makes sure he still has the supplies with him that plumbers and landlords need for a quick fix.

The coronavirus pandemic occurred five months after the fire.

“In the beginning everyone was scared. We took things outside. We have taken all precautionary measures, “said Ruffo about the COVID-19 crisis. “We left her at the foot of the stairs. We had a tent out there. We already had three people in there. I couldn’t let customers into the trailer. We couldn’t have retailers that we didn’t know where they were. And they don’t know us either. And they didn’t feel good. “

Joe Ruffo, son of the owner of K&N Plumbing and Heating, holds smoke-damaged packaging with hard-to-find plumbing inside, some specifically for three deckers.

Today, K&N Plumbing and Heating is in a new building in the same location as the fire, but the renovation is not yet fully completed.

“I still have to make shelves. I have a 40-foot trailer full of things that I need to save, “said Ruffo.

Ruffo said the biggest adjustment in the new building is not knowing where things are now.

“I’ve been here for over 40 years. I went to a certain place to get an item and it is no longer there. We moved it, ”said Ruffo. “So now I’m going to take an order, it’s like, oh, where did we put this? I knew where it was. It’s crazy. I’m going back there to look for something. I know where it should be, but it’s not there. “

To date, the cause of the fire is unknown, said Ruffo.

“They had the fire department and the state fire department. Insurance companies have sent investigators, ”said Ruffo. “And they all came to the same conclusion: ‘I don’t know.'”

Ruffo, a second generation plumber, also owns Turnpike Plumbing & Heating Supply in Oxford.

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