COLRAIN — The sound of smoke detectors just before dawn on Sunday woke Paul Giard of 42 Purington Lane in Colrain, alerting him of a fire in his home. Giard said fire in his wood stove chimney had gotten into the walls of his balloon frame house at Mountain’s Brook Farm, the last house on the dead-end road.
While Colrain and other local fire departments responded, Giard emptied his fire extinguishers and then set about pouring buckets of water onto the flames.
With temperatures reading single digits at the time of the fire and no hydrants in the area, Colrain Fire Chief Nicholas Anzuoni called for a second alarm, calling in mutual aid from Heath, Shelburne Center, Shelburne Falls, Greenfield, Buckland, Leyden, Charlemont, Ashfield as well as from Halifax and Whitingham in Vermont.
Firefighters were able to save the structure by tearing into the walls with hand tools to extinguish the hot spots, limiting the damage to the east side of the dwelling. Firefighters on the roof tore off siding all around the chimney to make sure the fire was out. By 9 a.m., some crews were released from the scene.
Giard said he has homeowner’s insurance and a place to stay. His power was temporarily turned off by utility crews. Nearby, pigs, sheep, goats and cows, oblivious to the fire, munched on fresh hay put out by Belle Cook, the only other person in the home at the time.
“They gotta eat,” said Giard as he watched smoke continue to seep out of the second- floor windows and eaves.
