The fire appears to have been caused when a fireplace blaze ignited nearby wall boards.
Source: The Republican (Springfield, MA)
Author: NANCY H. GONTER; [email protected]
HATFIELD, MA – Robert Zapka stood yesterday morning in front of what was left of the Chestnut Street home his father built 35 years ago.
“I’m in shock. I know everything is gone, but it hasn’t sunk in yet,” Zapka said.
Zapka and his mother, Helen Zapka, had a fire in the first-floor fireplace of their large colonial-style home at 44 Chestnut St. in Hatfield Sunday night.
Shortly after 3 a.m., Robert Zapka, asleep in a second-floor bedroom, smelled smoke and heard smoke detectors going off. He woke his mother, the two dressed and left the house. Using her cellular telephone, they called for help, he said.
“I saw a lot of smoke and got out of the house,” he said.
Deputy Fire Chief John T. Pease and Zapka said that the fire in the fireplace overheated boards in the wall next to it and caused them to smolder. The fire spread from there into a single-story section of the house where the kitchen and dining room were located.
Pease said that the below-zero temperatures hindered fighting the fire because hoses froze and burst, the street and area around the house became icy and because ladders and hoses froze in place.
But no one was injured.
Even the Amherst Fire Department “rehab tent,” which is heated with a diesel generator, was rendered useless when the generator froze, he said.
About 7:30 a.m., the Springfield Fire Department “rehab bus,” which is a former Peter Pan bus donated to that department, arrived, giving firefighters a place to warm themselves and get some coffee, water and sports drinks, said Springfield Fire Lt. Warren W. Gourley.
“I’m not a coffee drinker and I’ve already had three cups of coffee,” Pease said.
Pease praised the efforts of Hatfield firefighters and the coordinated effort of other fire departments that responded through mutual aid agreements.
Firefighters from Northampton, Hadley, Whately, Williamsburg, South Deerfield and Goshen assisted at the scene.
The family had four cats and only one has been seen since the fire started, Robert Zapka said.
Zapka said his mother will stay with a family member, and he plans to stay with a friend in South Deerfield.
At 10 a.m., heavy equipment was brought in to begin demolishing the house which was still burning. The floors inside had collapsed, making it difficult to reach interior areas of fire, Pease said.
Firefighters doused burning sections of the building as they were pulled off and piled in front of the house.
