CUMMINGTON – An unoccupied home that was still under construction at 9 Brickhouse Road caught fire on Wednesday evening and was totally destroyed, according to fire officials.
“It’s 110 percent burned,” Cummington Fire Chief Bernard L. Forgea said Thursday.
The cause of the blaze has not been determined and remains under investigation by local officials and the state fire marshal’s office. No one was injured during the incident.
The property belongs to a retired teacher from Brooklyn, New York, and his wife who were building a house for their retirement, according to Forgea.
Before the fire broke out, construction on the house was well along.
“It was 75 to 80 percent finished,” Forgea said. “They had been working hard on it. That’s the gut-wrenching part.”
Firefighters got a call about the fire at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday and battled the blaze for many hours.
“We were there till 4 o’clock this morning,” Forgea said.
The Worthington and Plainfield fire departments also came to the scene, said Dave Alvord, Plainfield’s assistant fire chief.
“It was a major Hilltown effort,” Forgea said.
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com