Sunday morning fire destroys home on Trebo Road

UPDATE: How you can help, below the story.

A single-family home on Trebo Road, about a half a mile from Route 103 North, was destroyed Sunday morning in a fire that also injured two residents and apparently collapsed portions of the building “fairly quickly,” Chester Fire Chief Matt Wilson said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon.

The Sunday morning fire that destroyed a Trebo Road home still smolders on Monday morning. A red tractor can be seen parked on the left. CLICK photo to enlarge. Photos by Shawn Cunningham

The residents — two women — were transported to the hospital, treated and released, according to Wilson. The home, he said, “appeared to be an older wooden frame” structure, 40 by 30 feet over two stories.

Wilson said firefighters were called to the scene around 8:04 a.m. Thirty to 40 firefighters from not only Chester but Springfield, Proctorsville, Ludlow, Rockingham, Bellows Falls, Weathersfield and Londonderry were on site while Cavendish and Windham fire companies covered for Chester.

The Red Cross arrived on the scene quickly to not only help the occupants, but also to make sure the firefighters were fed and caffeinated thanks to Lisai’s Chester Market and the Jiffy Mart.

Wilson said that while firefighters were fighting the fire, portions of the building collapsed fairly quickly and the rest of the building had to be pulled down using a Chester town excavator. He added that the fire was brought under control at 11:48 a.m. and the scene was cleared by 12:33 p.m. As of Tuesday afternoon, no cause for the fire had been officially determined.

How you can help

According to the Chester Fire Department’s Facebook page, Kelly and Amanda Parent of 461 Trebo Road lost their home and all of their possessions in the fire. Both injured but were treated and released and doing well. Anyone wishing to help this family in their time of need can do so through Jim and Sandi Bartley at 97 Snell Road, Chester, VT 05143 or can contact them by phone at 802-875-3536. Please remember that this family needs a lot, however, there is a lack of  a place to store things as they try to rebuild their lives.

— Cynthia Prairie