Source: Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: DANIEL MILLER
SHELBURNE, MA – Two fires erupted in western Franklin County yesterday, killing two dogs, bringing firefighters from seven towns to Ashfield and leading officials to suspect arson in a blaze here.
Both fires were reported shortly past noon.
A dispatcher at the central dispatch office here said a state fire marshal ruled that a shed fire near a home on James Barnard Road was set.
The dispatcher, however, said she had no more information and was therefore unable to provide details including the residence’s address number. The dispatcher referred inquiries to Fire Chief Guy Manners, who could not be reached for comment last night.
Ashfield Fire Chief Douglas M. Field said state Fire Marshal Frank Hart suspects a fire that gutted most of the rear of the colonial house at 118 Burton Hill Road was caused by an electrical malfunction, and that Hart had called an electrical expert to the scene to confirm it.
At press time, Hart was still at the scene. He couldn’t be reached for comment yesterday. Hart also investigated the Shelburne fire, Field said.
Fire engines and other vehicles and about 50 firefighters from Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Conway, Goshen, Shelburne Falls and Turners Falls reported to the scene, Field said.
Two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion.
Personnel from the Deerfield Fire Department stood by at the Ashfield fire station in case any other calls came in.
The fire gutted most of the rear portion of the colonial house at 118 Burton Hill Road owned by Kenneth and Cynthia Cole.
As firefighters finished work to contain the fire, the Coles, helped by local police and other friends, dug a four-foot grave for their Golden Retrievers, Homer and Rebel. The dogs died in their sleep of smoke inhalation.
“Losing the dogs bothers me more than the house,” Cynthia Cole said. Her face was covered with tears.
The dogs’ unburned bodies, mostly wrapped in cloth, lay on the ground nearby.
“They did everything together, so it’s only fitting that they died together,” said Sherri A. Healy of Greenfield, who was visiting a friend across the street when the fire broke.
Cynthia Cole caressed her dogs for the last time, removed their collars and then help lay them in their grave. She picked up a clump of dirt and crumpled it into the hole. Then she and her husband put a few shovels full of dirt in the grave. They leaned on each other and watched while others filled the hole.
“They’d been with us close to 10 years,” Kenneth Cole said. “After our two boys moved out of the house the dogs became surrogate children.”