Quick Action Saves

A Main Street Landmark

By Andrew Gorosko

While driving a police patrol car up Main Street toward the flagpole mid-afternoon Thursday, March 15, police patrol officer Chris Vadas looked to the left and saw plumes of dark smoke billowing up from behind the landmark yellow house at 17 Main Street, known to many as the Smith-Scudder house.

Deciding that such a volume of smoke was unusual, Officer Vadas pulled into the driveway of the house, got out of the car and realized the smoke was not coming from a cookout or a fireplace. The house was on fire. Officer Vadas reported the blaze, calling for firefighters.

Quickly using a fire extinguisher, Officer Vadas sprayed firefighting chemicals on the blaze, which was burning in a crawlspace beneath the rear porch.

Sergeant George Sinko and patrol officer Maryhelen McCarthy also were dispatched to the scene. The officers used the contents of three fire extinguishers, plus a garden hose, to fight the blaze as firefighters sped to the 3:23 pm house fire.

Newtown Hook and Ladder, Sandy Hook, Botsford, and Hawleyville firefighters responded to the fire. There were no reported injuries.

No one was at home in the residence, owned by Lourdes and James Haynes, at the time of the fire. However, police and firefighters learned that a Rottweiler dog, owned by tenant Lillian Weingast, was inside the burning building.

Animal control officer George Mattegat, with protective gear in hand, escorted the dog from the apartment and out the front door to safety.

Neighbor Andrea Kerin of 15 Main Street attended to another dog, which was being kept outdoors at 17 Main Street at the time of the fire.

Firefighters with charged hoses entered the front door of the house seeking to prevent the blaze from spreading. Newtown Hook and Ladder Chief Engineer Steve Murphy was incident commander.

Determining that the fire was localized in the crawlspace beneath the rear porch, firefighters quickly put out the blaze.

Ms Kerin said that she and her husband, Chris, were working in their home office next door, when they noticed that something was amiss when police arrived.

The police went to the crawlspace and pulled away burning objects from the building, she said. “I think they did a lot to keep it as minimal as it could be,” Mrs Kerin said.

Fire Marshal Bill Halstead, who arrived at the house shortly after the 3:23 pm fire call, said the blaze apparently started in some defective BX cable, a heavy metal-jacketed electrical cable which was in the crawlspace.

The fire marshal said the cable apparently failed, burned a hole through its metal jacket and sparked the flames. The presence of stored gasoline in the area fueled the blaze, he said.

A state fire marshal came to the scene to aid in the investigation. The cause of the fire is not suspicious, Mr Halstead said.

Mr Halstead estimated that fire and smoke caused approximately $30,000 in damage to the insured house. The figure could rise, depending on the extent of damage to the house’s contents, he said.

Both apartments in the house received smoke damage, he said. The rear porch, damaged by the fire, will need to be rebuilt, he said. A firm had been called to the scene to start cleaning up after the blaze, he said. The house remained habitable.

The old house has balloon-style construction in which there are large openings between external and internal walls. The blaze had started to enter walls at the rear of the building, Mr Halstead said.

Had the fire not been discovered as soon as it was, it could have been a much more serious blaze, he said.

Mr Murphy said that after arriving at the fire, firemen had the blaze out in less than five minutes. Firefighters took apart walls and floors to ensure that hidden flames were not present, he said.

Mr Murphy estimated that 30 firefighters went to the scene.