Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: FRED CONTRADA
WILLIAMSBURG, MA – Fire raced through a landmark blacksmith shop in the town’s Historic District yesterday, gutting the interior and backing up traffic for more than a mile along Route 9.
Williamsburg Blacksmiths, Inc., was still standing last night as firefighters from three towns continued to extinguish small blazes through its 10,000-square-foot expanse. Late last night, fire officials were still not sure, however, how much of the 86-year-old building can be salvaged.
Fire Chief Roger Bisbee said last night that part of the floor had collapsed in the blaze and that the building inspector would need to tour the site to see if it would need to be torn down.
Built in 1907 on the foundation of an 1830 factory, the blacksmith shop has been run by the Tiley family for three generations.
Westbound traffic was backed up from Williamsburg Center past Depot Road for several hours yesterday afternoon while firefighters from Williamsburg, Chesterfield and Goshen battled the flames.
Smoke from the fire could be detected as far away as Haydenville and hoses snaked for nearly half a mile up Route 9 from the center of town to the scene of the fire.
Town landmark
With 25 windows facing onto Williams Street and a selection of the antique-style latches and hinges it produces on display in front of the building, the blacksmith shop has long been a familiar sight to townspeople and motorists passing along Route 9. According to town records, a furniture and clock factory occupied the site from 1830 until it burned down around 1900.
Although no one was reported injured, Doug Fisher, who was in the building with co-worker Donna Eldred when the fire started, said it raced out of control almost immediately.
“A spark from a (metal) grinder caught a piece of cardboard and it all went up in one shot,” said Fisher, a metal worker from West Chesterfield. “The fire extinguisher couldn’t put it out so we just got out of there.”
Williamsburg Deputy Fire Chief Donald Lawton said firefighters arrived at the scene within minutes of receiving the alarm at about 11 a.m.
“Coming up the road we could see the fire and heavy black smoke,” Lawton said.
Power lines directly in front of the building might have posed an additional hazard but fire officials were able to notify Massachusetts Electric, which quickly cut power from the site west to Goshen, Lawton said.
Four pumpers from Williamsburg, two from Chesterfield and one from Goshen were summoned to the scene as firefighters sprayed water into the building’s many windows. Smoke continued to pour out of the building after firefighters stopped the hoses shortly after noon and attempted to gain access to the interior.
While firefighters continued to battle the blaze, owner Elizabeth Tiley, a Northampton resident, handed Fisher his paycheck and calmly tended to unfinished business in the showroom, a separate building that was untouched by the fire.
Tiley, 32, estimated the building’s value at between $250,000 and $300,000 but added, “I’m really guessing.” She said the building is insured, although she had considered lowering her coverage recently because of the high cost.
According to Tiley, the blacksmith shop was started by her late grandfather, Charles Anderson “Deacon” Tiley, in 1925 and has been a family business ever since.
“Sometimes I’m a blacksmith, sometimes I’m an administrator, sometimes I’m a janitor,” she said, describing her own role in the operation.
Shop volume doubled
The shop had doubled its volume over the past year, selling its wares to contractors, architects and individual customers wholesale, retail and by mail order, Tiley said.
Tiley’s sister, Linda Tiley, who is not an owner of the business, said some of the machinery appeared to survive the brunt of the fire, and she hopes sister Elizabeth Tiley will rebuild and continue on the family tradition.
Lawton said the building appeared to have suffered heavy structural damage.
“The way it looks, the whole roof will have to be stripped,” he said.