Brownsville
Outside the home Monday morning, Patrick Farnsworth said he has rented the house for about a year with his young daughter, who was not home at the time.
“I got home in the evening, cooked dinner and was on the couch and fell asleep then I woke up to a lot of smoke,” said Farnsworth, who earlier in the day was helping a friend boil sap.
Farnsworth first ran to the kitchen where he checked the wood stove but found only a few embers burning.
“Then I went to the back bedroom and saw flames coming up through the floor,” Farnsworth said.
West Windsor Fire Chief Mike Spackman said when they arrived after the first call shortly after 9 p.m. the home was “heavily involved” in the front corner closest to the road.
“It had a really big head start,” Spackman said. “It is your typical old farmhouse. Very dry.”
Fire officials, including the state Fire Marshal’s Office, were on the scene on Monday investigating the cause.
Standing by his truck in the driveway of the 1826 home, which sits about 35 feet from the road, Assistant State Fire Marshall Josh Maxham said that it appears the fire began near the left front corner of the building, where the inside, outside and roof area were completely blackened on Monday.
Portions of the roof at that corner of the house had collapsed and in the yard was more charred debris. The house was a total loss, Maxham said.
Several departments from both sides of the Connecticut River responded, including Ascutney, West Weathersfield, Windsor, Hartland, Reading, Springfield, South Woodstock, Cornish and Claremont, Spackman said.
Property owner Julie Young said she once lived in the house, which she bought in 2007. It is assessed at $133,800 and is surrounded by 34 acres, according to town assessing records. An old barn on the other side of the driveway was not damaged. Young said the property is insured.
According to Hartford dispatch, the fire was declared under control at midnight, about three hours after it started. Crews remained on the scene until 3:30 a.m., Spackman said.
The home, situated at 283 Route 44, is only slightly east of the entrance to the former Ascutney Mountain Resort ski area, where the former base lodge burned in January 2015.
The three-bedroom farmhouse is listed for sale for $299,000 by the Masiello Group, and the listing notes that the 34 acres of fields and woods are in the Vermont current use program.
Farnsworth said he will be staying with friends for the time being.
Maxham said late Monday they expect to have a cause of the fire some time today.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
