Extension cord under hay ‘being considered a potential factor’ in Leverett house fire

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday night that led to a partial roof collapse.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday night that led to a partial roof collapse. STAFF PHOTO/ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday night that led to a partial roof collapse.

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday night that led to a partial roof collapse. STAFF PHOTO/ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Firefighters enter a home at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday evening, attempting to extinguish a fire.

Firefighters enter a home at 101 Teawaddle Hill Road in Leverett Tuesday evening, attempting to extinguish a fire. STAFF PHOTO/ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

Staff Writer

Published: 04-29-2025 10:00 PM

Modified: 04-30-2025 6:34 PM


LEVERETT — A couple was displaced from their Teawaddle Hill Road home Tuesday night after a fire caused a partial collapse of the single-story house.

As flames and smoke rose from the roof and attic of Virginia Goodale and Mark Doubleday’s 101 Teawaddle Hill Road house, firefighters from seven departments rushed to extinguish the fire.

“They’re just doing an interior search right now, trying to see if they can expose some more walls and ceilings — there’s still a bit of fire in the attic that we can’t reach from the exterior,” Leverett Deputy Fire Chief Amy Rice said at 8:15 p.m. as firefighters entered the building. “We’ve vented, we’ve had people on the roof to put out the fire, but this is what’s necessary to get it all the way out.”

Rice said the fire appeared to have started at a greenhouse behind the home. At 8:24 p.m., she said there had not been any injuries.

According to state Department of Fire Services spokesperson Jake Wark, Leverett fire investigators and State Police assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire began in the greenhouse and spread to the nearby residence. While Wark said investigators could not determine the exact cause, they found no evidence that the fire was intentionally set. They also located an extension cord that had been covered by piles of hay — a detail he said is “being considered a potential factor.”

Teawaddle Hill Road resident Deborah Foucault said she and her husband were driving to the end of the road at approximately 7 p.m. searching for better cellphone reception to call their son when they noticed smoke coming from behind their neighbors’ house.

“We just sat at the end of the road, and I said, ‘Look, there’s some smoke. I think they must be doing a barbecue,’” Foucault recounted. “The next thing you know, I’m like, ‘That’s no barbecue, there’s black smoke.’”

When Foucault saw black smoke rising from her neighbors’ house, she and her husband called 911. While waiting for the Fire Department to arrive, they attempted to extinguish the fire themselves. Goodale and Doubleday were not home at the time.

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“By the time we got there, the whole back shed was on fire next to the house. … We banged on the door. We tried to call 911, we ran in the house to see if anybody was there and the cat was there,” Foucault said. “We got it, and then we ran to the back for some hoses, and we tried to put the fire out to keep it away from the roof of the building.”

Rice said the house sustained significant damage in the attic, parts of which dropped, and in the rear portion of the home. She said building and fire inspectors would be coming to the house later Tuesday evening to inspect the damage.

Wark, noting that electrical fires are usually the second or third leading cause of structure fires each year in Massachusetts, offered advice on the use of extension cords and power strips.

“We want to remind residents to use them sparingly and temporarily, meaning they shouldn’t be a permanent replacement for a wall outlet and shouldn’t be overloaded with heavy appliances or too many small devices,” Wark wrote in an email. “Keep [extension cords] clear of doors, windows and furniture that could pinch or damage them, keep them out from under rugs and carpets … and check them periodically for cracked or damaged insulation. It’s much cheaper — and safer — to replace an extension cord than all the things that might be damaged in a fire.”

Firefighters from Leverett, Amherst, Shutesbury, Montague Center, South Deerfield, Sunderland and Turners Falls provided assistance.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.