Date: Fri 11-Jun-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

fire-Hall-Huntingtown-Road

Full Text:

Fire Destroys A Landmark Home

(with photos)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

About 60 firefighters from eight volunteer fire companies converged at an old

white farmhouse on Huntingtown Road in Botsford Tuesday afternoon to battle a

stubborn wind-whipped fire in extreme heat and humidity.

The persistent fire reported at 1:48 pm extensively damaged the unoccupied

1815 farmhouse laden with antiques at 8 Huntingtown Road. The blaze at the

landmark home, which is owned by local attorney Robert Hall, caused an

estimated $500,000 in damage.

State and local fire marshals were on the scene Wednesday investigating to

determine the cause and origin of the blaze.

Fire Marshal George Lockwood said Thursday "It's under investigation. We have

no cause as of this time. Every fire is suspicious until we have a cause."

The fire originated in a storage closet beneath a staircase which links the

first and second stories of the house, he said.

An important element of the investigation involves the back door of the house,

which had been kicked in, according to Mr Lockwood said. Fire investigators

are checking on whether one of several people who had reported the fire had

gone to the rear door and kicked in it in to see if there were any people

inside, or whether the broken door indicates something more sinister.

"We found the origin of the fire, but the cause at this time is undetermined,"

said police Detective Sergeant Henry Stormer, who is a deputy fire marshal.

"There are a lot of investigative steps that still have to be taken," he said.

Sgt Stormer asked that anyone with information about the fire contact the

police.

Eight Departments

Firefighters from Botsford, Newtown Hook and Ladder, Sandy Hook, Hawleyville,

Dodgingtown, Stepney, Monroe and Southbury went to the scene to battle the

fire, which proved very difficult to extinguish. The fire was declared under

control about 4:15 pm.

The blaze had been reported by a passerby who noticed smoke coming out of the

building. Motorist James Polisano of Waterbury drove by the farmhouse about

12:45 pm and didn't notice anything unusual. However, when he passed the

farmhouse again about an hour later, Polisano saw smoke coming from it and was

the first of about nine people to report the fire, said Mr Lockwood.

Mr Lockwood said it appears the fire had been burning for quite a long time,

possibly three to four hours, before it was discovered.

Mr Hall said his son and daughter-in-law were the last people to have lived in

the house full-time. They moved out last October, he said.

Mr Hall said he had been restoring the house in recent months and planned to

move into it with his wife, Margot, Newtown's judge of probate. "We were

absolutely going to move in here," he said.

The house contained many valuable antique items and personal memorabilia,

including photos, documents and maps.

Although the house was not recently lived in, it was attended, Mr Hall said.

"I've never seen such a hard one [to put out]," Mr Lockwood said. "We're going

to investigate [the fire] to the fullest," he added.

The old house's balloon-style construction with dual walls made the blaze a

very difficult one to extinguish, he said.

Botsford Fire Chief Steve Belair said "We had it out about five times. It kept

rekindling. It's all in the walls. We get it knocked down and it flares right

up again... It's extremely hard to put out these old houses."

Difficulty in fighting the stubborn fire was compounded by the extreme heat of

the day, Chief Belair said. "The heat is really killing the guys. The guys are

totally exhausted from the heat," he said during the blaze.

As Chief Belair spoke, numerous firemen exhausted from the intensity of

fighting the fire sat in shady areas, drinking water and receiving medical

attention from the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

Additional manpower was repeatedly called to the fire scene to relieve the

weary firefighters who were battling the blaze.

As the exhausted, sweat-drenched firemen rested, fire tankers lumbered up and

down Huntingtown Road ferrying loads of water to the burning house from

hydrants on Pecks Lane. Besides providing added manpower, the many fire

departments were called to the scene to provide fire tankers. By the time the

fire was out, firemen had used 56,000 gallons of water on it.

"They put it out in one place and it starts in another," Mr Lockwood said of

the stubborn blaze.

Firemen using fire ladders fought the blaze from all four sides of the ornate

house.

The heavy amount of char damage to the interior of the house indicates the

fire was probably burning for a long time before it was discovered, said Sandy

Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead, who is a deputy fire marshal.

"It has been quite a while since he had been to a fire this difficult to

extinguish," he said. "It's unbelievable," he added.

As he spoke, a thick white firefighting foam used by firemen rolled out of the

front door of the house onto the front lawn.

At that time, Newtown Hook and Ladder positioned its aerial ladder truck to

get a fireman up to the eaves where he cut a hole into a sidewall with a chain

saw to ventilate the fire which was burning in the attic.

Firemen used about 50 air bottles during the fire to keep firefighters

supplied with fresh air amid swirling smoke in shifting winds.

Newtown Hook and Ladder Fire Chief Dave Ober concurred with others, saying,

"This is a stubborn fire. The fire's in the wall. It's difficult to put out."

Aftermath

Late Wednesday morning, Mr Hall surveyed his damaged, smoldering house from

the lawn to the north.

The state police's fire investigation unit was on the scene collecting

evidence on the cause of the blaze. Bright yellow fire lines ringed the house

to keep people away.

"We haven't determined [the cause] yet. We're still videotaping," Mr Lockwood

said. A specially trained dog was brought in to sniff for the possible

presence of fire accelerants but none were found, according to Mr Lockwood.

The house contained many antiques and artifacts dating back through the many

generations of his family who had lived there, Mr Hall said. The house has

been in his family since it was constructed. "This house has never been sold,

has never been cleaned out," he said.

The house was built by Peter and Polly Nichols and possesses quite a history.

The building sits on a six-acre parcel on the west side of Huntingtown Road

overlooking a farm pond on an 11-acre parcel on the east side of the narrow,

winding, hilly street.

"I hope we can salvage it. The corners are OK. It's a matter of whether you

can rebuild the center," he said.

Most of the damage on the first floor occurred in the center of the building,

he said. The second story has thorough damage. The dual attics are damaged.

After the damage is assessed, the house will be boarded up, Mr Hall said. The

building was insured.

"It's quite heavily damaged. It sustained substantial structural damage," said

Building Official Tom Paternoster.

Citing the Hall family's long link to the structure, Mr Paternoster said "I

can see why Bob wants to save it."

Mr Paternoster said he will ask Mr Hall to provide a structural engineer's

report on whether the house can be saved. If a structural engineer can certify

the building is salvageable, the building department would endorse saving it,

Mr Paternoster said.

Chief Belair said no firemen were injured in the fire. He credited the

volunteer ambulance corps with providing aid to many exhausted firemen.

"It's a shame such an old house, so much history got destroyed. A lot of

things can't be replaced," the chief said.