By DAN CROWLEY
Managing Editor
GRANBY – Firefighters spent nearly an hour Monday night battling a fire that ravaged the home of U.S. Marine veteran Joshua Bouchard, whose house was built for him by volunteers four years ago.
The blaze at 48 Chicopee St. was reported at around 9:30 p.m. and appears to have begun with a vehicle fire in the home’s garage, according to the Granby Fire Department.
The homeowner was taken by ambulance to an area hospital and was not injured, according to Granby firefighters who declined to name the homeowner citing medical privacy laws.
“It was precautionary due to the smoke,” Granby Fire Capt. George Randall said Tuesday morning.
Randall said that when firefighters arrived, the garage was fully engulfed in flames, and has rendered the home uninhabitable. The blaze caused an estimated $300,000 in damages.
“There is extensive damage to the roof area of the house,” Randall said.
Bouchard lost a leg and suffered a spine injury from an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2009 that took the lives of two Marines. He had moved into the home in January 2013. The effort to build his home was spearheaded by the Taunton-based Homes for Our Troops program.
The state Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the blaze. Several area Fire Departments responded with mutual aid, including South Hadley Fire Districts 1 and 2, as well as fire crews from Belchertown, Ludlow, Ware and Westover Air Reserve Base.