Tim Barrus said no one in the neighborhood had ever complained about the mobile home, which was located in a remote area.
Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: FRED CONTRADA
GOSHEN, MA – For more than two centuries, the Barrus family has availed mineralogists of the wonders of its 900-acre property and opened their woods to hunters, hikers, snowmobilers and cross-country skiers.
That privilege has gone up in smoke, thanks to a Halloween fire and an anonymous sign.
On Nov. 1, Tim Barrus, who operates a llama ranch on part of the land his family has owned since 1780, went to check on a mobile home he kept off Spruce Corner Road and found it in ruins. Barrus had towed the 12-by-40-foot trailer to a site in the northwest corner of Goshen a couple of years ago.
“It was given to us by a guy who had to get it off his land,” Barrus said last week. “I was going to use the framework to make stalls for the llamas.”
Barrus also planned to sell the aluminum siding from the unoccupied trailer and salvage its furnace, sink, dryer and other appliances. Now he had a smoldering hulk. The double-axle trailer welded to the unit was also destroyed. Barrus estimated the damage at $2,000 to $3,000.
“I doubt if my insurance is going to cover it,” he said.
Despite his loss, Barrus took the incident in stride until he returned to the site the following Monday and found that someone had put up a sign referring to the fire. It said: “Thanks – The Neighborhood.”
Barrus was stunned.
“I’m usually pretty easy-going, but this was it,” he said, “the end of my patience. This sign says to me that arson is OK. That’s not acceptable. This is a line I’m not going to cross.”
Barrus said no one in the neighborhood had ever complained to him about the mobile home, which sits half a mile from the nearest house. As of last Friday, no one had called to commiserate, either. A few days later, Barrus made his own sign and hung it at the site. This one said: “To ‘The Neighborhood’ – All permission to use Barrus’ land is withdrawn. Don’t think about using Barrus’ land for any reason.”
The decision is bad news for mineralogists, who have been rock hunting on the property since Barrus’ ancestor Thomas Weeks discovered spodumene, a type of mineral with a high lithium content, in the 1790s. Subsequent rock hunters have turned up tourmaline, goshenite (in the same family as emeralds) and other prized finds.
“There are a number of minerals there that collectors like,” said Smith College geology professor John Brady, who has not personally explored the property.
“Mr. Barrus has been hospitable to people over the years,” he said. “I do know that.”
Francis Judd, who belongs to the Ashfield Snowmobilers Club, said the main snowmobile route from Goshen to Ashfield runs through the Barrus property.
“It’s going to be a loss to snowmobilers,” he said, adding that the club has always been careful to cooperate with landowners. “There’s always going to be one person who’s going to spoil it.”
Judd, whose family has long given the public access to much of its own land in Goshen, sees the fire as a Halloween prank and hopes Barrus will reconsider.
“When you have something like that happen, you tend to take drastic measures awful quick,” he said. “We all get along up here and watch out for each other. It’s country living the way it’s supposed to be.”
Barrus said, however, that he is posting his land at the advice of his lawyer and has become leery about housing his llamas in a nearby barn.
“I don’t particularly like the idea of having somebody on the loose that’s going to burn down buildings,” he said. “I thought at first some kids burned it down as a Halloween prank. I’m not so sure now.”
Barrus said he and his partner, Lynn Lenker, have contacted the local fire and police departments but have not heard back from either. Fire officials said last week the matter is in the hands of the police. Police Chief Nanci Forrestall could not be reached for comment. State Police Trooper Kevin Hanna, the fire marshal for Hampshire County, said he had not been notified of the incident.