SOUTHAMPTON — Bonnie Barnes had just gone outside to do some gardening when she smelled heavy smoke in the air on Couture Road. Moments later, she was screaming at the top of her lungs for help while spraying a garden hose at her next-door neighbor’s house, because it was on fire.
“To my shock, I could see this dark, billowing smoke coming off the siding next door,” Barnes recalled. “I just had the hose going and pointing toward the kitchen window. There were flames around the window. I literally had the water going non-stop.”
The fire broke out at around 11 a.m. at 12 Couture Road and was caused by unusual circumstances, according to the Southampton Fire Department. A mirror affixed to an outdoor shower against the house was positioned in such a way to reflect the sun’s rays onto the exterior wall. The rays burned streaks into the wall to the point where it finally ignited, Southampton Fire Chief John Workman said. The cause was determined by a state fire investigator who was called to the scene, he said. No one was home or injured.
“It was like a magnifying glass and focused the reflective sun against the wood wall and the siding and started a fire,” Workman said of the mirror. “In 30 years, I hadn’t seen it. Pretty unusual circumstances.”
Workman said it was Barnes’ and her partner Kenneth Couture’s actions that kept the fire under control. Couture had called 911 and alerted the homeowner, Simone Prystowski, to the fire, and helped Barnes keep spraying water on the fire at the side of Prystowski’s house.
“Luckily the neighbors noticed the smoke and they did a good job to keep it from spreading,” Workman said. “It’s nice to see that neighborly stuff going on.”
Prystowski said she rushed home from work not knowing what she would find.
“I’m just extremely grateful to my neighbors that they were here and spotted it,” Prystowski said. “Without them, I don’t know what would have been left of my home when I got home from work.”
In addition to the Southampton Fire Department, the Easthampton and Holyoke fire departments responded to the scene with mutual aid. Workman said the fire caused an estimated $10,000 in damage.
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.