Big Response Saved Additions

Weathersfield The assistance of 18 area fire departments, from both sides of the Connecticut River, at a fire Friday night on South Mountain Road and Route 131 helped firefighters contain the flames to the farmhouse where it started, Ascutneys fire chief said Saturday.

The home, estimated to be at least 200 years old, was a total loss, but additions to the house were saved. There were no injuries.

I needed a large amount of water because I didnt want to lose the garage, barn and the ell (that were) connected to the house, Ascutney Volunteer Fire Department Chief Darrin Spaulding said of the number of departments called to assist. One of those buildings was filled with hay. We used every tanker and pumped a pond dry.

The line of tanker trucks, red lights flashing, stretched westward along Route 131 on Friday night for as far as one could see. Spaulding said their water capacity ranged from 1,200 to 1,800 gallons on the smaller trucks to 3,000 to 4,000 gallons on the larger ones.

Some of the crews told me they dumped as many as six times, said Spaulding.

To fight the fire, Spaulding said, they used a ladder truck pumping 800 gallons a minute and two smaller hoses on the ground throwing 500 to 600 gallons a minute.

While an exact cause has not been determined, Spaulding said he was leaning toward the woodstove and chimney area. He said the fire burned through the left side of the house where the stove was located.

The fire was called under control at 11:50 p.m. At about 1 a.m., a portion of the second floor on the right side of the two-story home gave way and collapsed onto the floor below.

No one was home when the fire started. Spaulding estimated that it was going for a good hour before the first call came in at 9:30. It eventually went to five alarms and the last crews did not leave the scene until 11:30 Saturday morning, Spaulding said.

Departments responded from as far away as Westminster to the south, Ludlow to the west, Hartford to the north and Newport to the east, Spaulding said.

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Big Response Saved Additions