Union-News (Springfield, MA)
Author: DANIEL MILLER
GOSHEN, MA – A fire that scorched the front of a house on Wildwood Lane yesterday morning was started when tape wrapped around a water pipe melted, according to Fire Chief Francis Dresser.
Occupants David Summersong, his sister, Chris Walton, and her daughters, Angela and Rosemary escaped the house uninjured, according to Mary Snyders, director of Emergency Services for the Hampshire County chapter of the American Red Cross.
“They were thankful that no one was injured, which is amazing, if you look at the house,” said Snyders, who interviewed them yesterday afternoon.
3-hour fight for house
Snyders said the four are staying with a friend of Summersong’s in Newington, Conn.
Dresser said the fire began in the basement around 6:45 a.m. and burned through the porch floor. By the time firefighters got there, the front of the house was engulfed in flames, he said. They battled the blaze for more than three hours. The interior sustained major damage from heat, smoke and water, according to Dresser.
“It’s a mess inside,” he said. “It’s uninhabitable.”
Firefighters from Chesterfield and Cummington assisted the Goshen force, he said.
The house is insured, Dresser said.