Published: 1/21/2022 1:42:26 PM
NORTHFIELD — No injuries resulted from a fire at a two-story house at 386 Mount Hermon Station Road Friday afternoon, with the homeowner and his dog getting out safely.
Fire Chief Floyd “Skip” Dunnell III said the building is a total loss.
Firefighters and tankers from across Franklin County, southern Vermont and southern New Hampshire were called in starting just before noon. The homeowner, Ray McIsaac, said he called 911 after his smoke detectors activated and he discovered smoke in the basement and saw fire burning.
“The smoke alarms started going off, so I went straight to the basement and saw fire burning around my wood furnace,” McIsaac recounted. “Smoke started filling the house, so I got my dog and got out and called 911. I almost got the fire extinguisher and went back in, but the smoke.”
McIsaac and his dog, Yeager, got outside unharmed. His wife, Wanda McIsaac, the only other resident, was at work at the time of the fire.
According to McIsaac, the house is insured and he has a temporary place to stay, having relatives in Hinsdale, New Hampshire and South Hadley.
Besides battling the below-freezing temperatures, firefighters grappled with tanking water to the scene. Portable tanks were set up and filled by tankers ferrying water from Sawyer Ponds about one mile south by Old Vernon Road. A Northfield ladder truck sprayed water down through the collapsing roof.
“We had it knocked down on the first floor, but it ballooned up to the second floor and mushroomed out, and we had to pull everyone out of the building,” Dunnell noted.
Mount Hermon Station Road was closed from Caldwell Road to American Legion Post 84 while firefighters responded. Traffic was detoured down Caldwell Road past the Transfer Station.
Providing mutual aid to the Northfield Fire Department were firefighters from Bernardston, Brattleboro, Vt., Deerfield, Gill, Greenfield, Guilford, Vt., Montague Center, New Salem, Shelburne Falls, Turners Falls, Hinsdale, N.H. and Vernon, Vt. Utility crews cut electricity to the house and Northfield EMS stood by. The American Red Cross was in touch with McIsaac, making sure he and his wife had lodging.
As the Navy veteran leaned against his pick-up truck, watching his home of 20 years burn, he calmly lamented, “There are a lot of books and pictures burning up in there.”
Reach Paul Franz at pfranz@recorder.com.