GREENFIELD — A bouquet of sunflowers rests on black ashes at the front steps of 140 Meridian St., the site of an early morning fire Sunday that took the lives of four people, including a 5-year-old boy.
“Ray (Wood) was one of my best friends,” Lindsay Hamel remembered through tears Monday morning, while surveying the burned house. “My daughter loved his son. They were three days apart in age.”
The victims were identified as longtime state police radio technician Brian Tower, 48; wife, Florenda (Houle) Tower, 49; her son, Raymond Wood, 28; and his son, William Paul Clark, 5.
“He loved giving hugs and comforting,” Hamel said about the young boy, whom she described as quiet and compassionate. “Ray loved him more than anything in the world.”
According to a GoFundMe account set up for the family, the 5-year-old is survived by his mother, Jamie Clark, who just gave birth. Donations can be given to the family at bit.ly/2duypGy
Hamel said father and son liked hiking in the woods behind Meridian Street, often wandering to a favorite spot at the Green River.
According to Greenfield Fire Chief Robert Strahan, the first call about a house fire with people possibly trapped inside came about 5:15 a.m. Sunday. When fire crews arrived soon after, the fire was too large and burning too hot to enter the house. Strahan said it took firefighters about 45 minutes to get the fire under control enough to look for survivors.
In a news release, Jennifer Mieth, spokeswoman for the Department of Fire Services, said the investigation continues and that investigators believe the fire was accidental.
At the 1½-story wood house Monday, charred wood could be seen beneath the eaves and around boarded-up windows. A BMX bike rested atop a pile of personal items removed during fire overhaul.
“It’s still raw,” said State Police Lt. John Healy, who remembered Brian Tower when he first joined the Northampton barracks in the late 1980s. “Brian was a great guy, and he’ll be greatly missed.”
Another friend, Elisa Faille, said that Brian Tower’s job required him to be on-call for emergency situations such as missing person searches in order to distribute radios. She said he was “very quiet, but once he got to know you he was always talking, talking, talking.”
Faille said she shared a close, 20-year friendship with Florenda Tower, adding “he was the opposite of her.”
Florenda Tower, Faille said, worked at Stavros as a personal care attendant for people with disabilities. Faille described her friend as outgoing, personable and someone who enjoyed adventure, travel and the casino.
“She didn’t like to stay home,” Faille said. “Friendly, she was very outgoing — she had a lot of friends, and liked to take trips. Brian took her everywhere.”
Often, Faille said she would go out to lunch with Florenda Tower and her 5-year-old grandson. She said when she got into the car, the boy would greet her with, “Hi, nice to meet you again,” and ask “how are you feeling today?”
Michael Buoniconti, superintendent of the district including Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, where William was in his first year of kindergarten, described the fire as “an incredible tragedy,” and said the school is making crisis bereavement counseling available for all students.
“William was such a great kid, so full of life, always asking questions and he had that bright sparkle in his eyes,” Carissa Venym Lee, a friend of the family, said while describing the boy. “Such an ambitious child, always ready for the next big adventure even if that was just a trip to the store. They were all great people, a good-hearted family. It’s just a tragedy what happened to them.”