COLRAIN — Five fire departments responded to a structure fire at 65 East Colrain Road Thursday night, saving the house from extensive damage.
On Friday afternoon, the fire was still under investigation, Fire Chief Nicholas Anzuoni said. “It appears that, due to (an electrical) wire coming down from the storm, the power was feeding back through the home and may have caused a fire on materials near the oil tank,” Anzuoni said. “The electrical inspector suggested they get an electrician to check everything. There were breakers shut down, but there was still power going through the house.”
Anzuoni said that Eversource workers were in Colrain Friday checking the lines that had been damaged during Thursday’s snow storm.
The call went out at 9:15 p.m. after homeowners Sandy and Stan Skura discovered the fire. A fallen tree limb had knocked down the power line connected to the house, and the sparks from the broken line set the tree limb on fire.
“My husband came home and called me,” Sandy Skura said. “He said, ‘There’s a fire on the line.’”
After calling 911 for the tree fire, Sandy Skura said she smelled electrical smoke and heard a sound of static downstairs in the basement. Venturing downstairs, she found sparks spewing underneath the oil tank.
Colrain Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Worden said power was backfeeding into the electrical box due to the broken power line, causing a fire in the basement.
However, Worden estimated around two dozen firefighters responded from Colrain, Shelburne, Shelburne Falls, Greenfield and Halifax, Vt., with Heath covering in station. The firefighters were able to put out the fire within 20 minutes with very minimal damage and no injuries to the Skuras or their two dogs and cat.
“I’m freaked out,” Sandy Skura said. “My whole life is in that house.”
Though the Skuras shut off the home’s power, firefighters waited for Eversource to respond and shut off power to the house completely to ensure a fire didn’t start again. By 10:30 p.m., the broken power line was still live.
Given the several inches of snow that thoroughly coated the back roads, Worden said it was very difficult to respond to the fire.
“The mutual aid coming in was very helpful tonight given the weather conditions,” Worden said.
Anzuoni said the last truck to leave the scene wasn’t able to return to the station until at least 4 a.m., because a tree came down in front of it, on Shelburne Line Road, and the truck was blocked on an alternate route by another downed tree.
“It’s only the first storm of the year,” Anzuoni remarked. “I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come this winter.”