Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: RICHARD NADOLSKI
WILLIAMSBURG, MA – Fire Chief Roger Bisbee said yesterday that an electrical switch in a cellar stairway caused a fire Tuesday which heavily damaged a house on Route 9 and left a family of four homeless.
Bisbee said the blaze at the two-story, combination frame and concrete block house at 145 Goshen Road owned by William and Ingrid Tobin caused about $35,000 in damages, but the property is fully insured. The couple and their young children, Katie and Todd, have found shelter with relatives.
An estimated 25 firefighters from Williamsburg, Goshen and Chesterfield responded to the fire, which was reported about 3:30 p.m. Bisbee said flames worked their way to the second floor and heavily damaged two bedrooms. The first floor had smoke and water damage, he said.
When firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring from the building, and they quickly made their way to the second floor. The fire was so hot that it unsoldered pipes, causing water quickly to turn to steam, Bisbee said.
The house is on an embankment on the south side of Route 9 near the Goshen town line, and firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames using water that they had brought with them.
Bisbee said the close proximity to Goshen led him to believe that he was responding to a Goshen fire as part of the mutual aid agreement between the hill towns. Goshen Fire Chief Francis Dresser was at the scene.
“When I got there, I was awful surprised. I thought we were helping him and, instead, he was helping us,” Bisbee said.
Bisbee suffered a cut on his left hand from a piece of metal, and doctors at The Cooley Dickinson Hospital had to use “a few” stitches to close the wound, he said.