WILLIAMSBURG — The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of a stubborn house blaze at 84 Goshen Road on Monday that displaced two residents and injured no one, but kept firefighters busy throughout the afternoon.
No one was home when the fire broke out in the hour before noon as flames and smoke penetrated the roof of the single-family house, which was scheduled to be sold in early May. The property is owned by Keith Harmon Snow and set back from the road and across a field off Route 9.
Snow said he was across the street in another home owned by his family on Hyde Hill Road when he heard sirens, looked out a window and saw smoke billowing from the house where his 2½-year-old son and the boy’s mother live.
“We’re thankful that everybody is OK and we have such a great fire department,” Snow said as firefighters continued to work at the scene in the late afternoon.
Snow said he suspects the fire may be linked to his wood stove system, or was possibly caused by an electrical issue, but he was not certain.
Building Commissioner Louis Hasbrouck said the fire appears to have started between a Sheetrock ceiling and the roof where a chimney passes through. Hasbrouck deemed the house uninhabitable after inspecting it.
“The building is in bad shape and not safe to occupy,” he said.
Firefighters from a half dozen departments, the majority from the Hilltowns, spent several hours battling the pesky fire. At times, flames shot through areas of the upper roof, which was eventually peeled back to access and vent the structure.
“There was quite a lot of involvement in the attic space,” Hasbrouck said. “They were having a hard time getting at all the burning stuff. It was the kind of fire where it took a lot of time to get it open enough to see where everything was burning.”
Firefighters relied on a portable fire hydrant system fed by tanker trucks on Route 9. A long run of hose extended from the street to another relayed pumping area closer to the house, which provided water to extinguish the fire.
“The water damage was pretty substantial,” Snow said, noting that he had already moved some personal belongings from the home in advance of the move.
“We’ll have to see how it goes,” he said, noting that a closing on the house was scheduled for May 5. “Thank God we had insurance.”
Hasbrouck said it is hard to put an initial cost estimate on the damage.
“It can be rebuilt but it’s certainly going to be expensive,” he said.
Firefighters from Williamsburg, Goshen, Northampton, Cummington, Ashfield and Chesterfield all responded to the scene in the initial hours after the fire was reported. Williamsburg firefighters were still on the scene in the early evening, clearing debris and checking for hot spots or materials that could reignite.
“There was a great response from mutual aid companies,” Williamsburg Police Chief Denise Wickland said. “Fire departments arrived on scene pretty quickly.”
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.