01.21.08 - A fast-moving fire that erupted from a basement filled with billowing smoke destroyed an historic Osborne Road home early this morning.
It could have been far worse.
If Kelly Pinkans hadn’t “smelled smoke” shortly before 2 a.m. - rousing her husband, Michael, and summoning firefighters to the scene - the storyline would likely have been flat out tragic instead of just personally devastating.
It almost was anyway, according to Michael Pinkans, who said he was preparing to return to the smoke-filled house for what would have been the third time since he was wakened by his wife when Assistant Fire Chief Chris Sanborn - the first Barre Town volunteer to arrive at the scene - screamed at him to stop.
“He (Sanborn) probably saved one or two lives,” Pinkans said, explaining that just moments after Sanborn’s antics the “new section” of his home - a wood-framed, two-story addition built way back in 1890 - was engulfed in flames.
“It went from smoke billowing out of the basement to a raging fire just like that,” Pinkans said shaking his head in disbelief.
Pinkans, who went back into the house before Sanborn’s arrival to fetch the family dog, Emma, and returned a second time to corral a less-than-cooperative cat, shuddered to think of what would have happened if he or his wife had gone back in to grab some of their belongings.
“I thought we’d be dealing with a smoke claim,” he said. “I never dreamed that it would have developed into this … We lost everything.”
Barre Town Fire Chief Chris Violette, who was still on the scene late this morning, said there was simply no saving the house - a portion of which was built in 1819.
According to Violette, a combination of sub-zero temperatures and a stiff and steady 25-mile-an-hour wind made saving the structure impossible. With the brisk breeze fanning flames and the wood-framed portion of the structure fully engulfed in fire, Violette said he quickly made the call to pull firefighters out of the building.
“Within the first 20 minutes we knew it was gone,” he said.
Although dozens of firefighters from several area departments responded to the blaze, he said their collective efforts could do little more than prevent the fire from spreading to a nearby barn.
“It’s a shame,” he said. “It was a beautiful old home.”
Fortunately, Violette said nobody was hurt.
Firefighters from Barre, Berlin, East Montpelier, Montpelier, Plainfield, Washington, Waterbury, Woodbury and Williamstown, joined volunteers from Barre Town at the scene, according to Violette, who said he needed every bit of the manpower, which at one point numbered more than 85, given frigid temperatures. Violette said the mix of volunteer and professional firefighters took turns battling the blaze after deploying more than 2,100 feet of large diameter hose. At one point, he said, a local school bus was called in to provide volunteers water-soaked volunteers with a mobile warming hut.
Violette said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined, but said the age of the structure, type of construction and a metal roof firefighters weren’t able to vent early on, caused it to spread quickly.
The older portion of the home is believed to be the second oldest brick house in Barre and was originally the homestead of Dexter Trow, whose family was among Barre’s earliest settlers.
“There was a lot of history there and now it’s gone,” Pinkans said, standing in the crowded kitchen of neighbors Maurice and Jean Jones, while Violette and several other Barre Town were still outside surveying the charred, but ice-covered remains of the home he bought 14 years ago.
Overcome by emotion, Pinkans, who owns Caesar’s Fare restaurant in South Barre, said he and his wife were grateful for the emergency response, the support of the Salvation Army and offers of assistance they had received from friends and neighbors.
“I just want to make sure that we thank everyone that responded,” Pinkans said, his quivering voice breaking into a full-blown sob. “To live in a community where 75 people can come and save their neighbors is why we live here in Vermont.”
11.23.07 - A Montpelier youth is listed in critical condition after his car went off the road and hit a tree on Route 25 in West Topsham late Wednesday night, trapping him inside the vehicle. Police said Brendon Clements, 19, was extracted from the vehicle by EMT and fire and rescue crews from Barre Town and Tri-Village Fire Department, and was transferred to Fletcher Allen Hospital after first being treated at Central Vermont Hospital because of the severe nature of his injuries.
11.23.07 West Topsham
11.29.07- A New Hampshire man was arrested for DUI on November 29th after his Volkswagen Jetta crossed the center line on Route 302 in Orange and collided with another vehicle.
Police said 34-year old Michael Colburn, of Woodsville, NH, was driving under the influence when his vehicle collided with 20-year old Elizabeth Agnew's Honda CRV just after 7 p.m.
Both vehicles were totaled and a 60-year old passenger in Agnew's vehicle was treated for possible chest injuries at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin.
11.29.07 - Orange
