Blaze destroys Chester home, displacing family of eight Firefighters work amid bitter temperatures

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2022 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Firefighters from more than a dozen departments responded to Chester for a fire that destroyed a home that housed eight on Route 103 north near Wymans Falls Road and closed the highway for several hours on Sunday night as temperatures dropped into the low teens.

According to Chester Fire Chief Matt Wilson, at about 8 p.m. the department was providing mutual aid at a fire in Springfield when they got the call to return to Chester for a report of “smoke with flames” at a home at 1324 Rt. 103 North.

Chester Ambulance personnel confirmed that all of the occupants – several adults and children – were out of the building and had transported one of the adults to Springfield Hospital for smoke inhalation. The home, according to the Fire Department, is owned by Sue LaBarge, a health care worker who was working at the time of the fire. One of the children was also not at home when the fire broke out.

A Ludlow ambulance was called to the scene to stand by.

When Chester engines arrived, they found that fire was showing in about 75 percent of the building and firefighters began an “aggressive interior attack,” Wilson said. But after a time, the second floor “flashed over” and an emergency evacuation was ordered with all interior crews pulled out of the building as firefighting continued from the outside using Springfield’s ladder truck and ladders.

In addition to Chester and Ludlow Ambulances, firefighters from Proctorsville, Springfield, Rockingham, Ludlow, Bellows Falls, Reading, Windsor, Grafton, Saxtons River, Alstead, Westminster, North Walpole, Ascutney, Claremont either assisted with putting out the fire or provided cover trucks to stand by in case of another fire. Wilson told The Telegraph that a house fire would not normally require so many crews, but with temperatures as low as 12 degrees Fahrenheit and personnel soaked with water and covered in ice, the work took more hands than usual.

“They looked like ice cubes,” said Wilson noting that crews needed to take time in the cabs of their trucks to warm up while other crews went to work on the fire. The interior firefighting was resumed when the second floor fire was knocked down, but it was limited by concerns over the structural integrity of the building.

Route 103 was closed as tankers ferried water to the fire from a hydrant just north of Wright Farm Road.

By midnight the blaze was under control and fire companies cleared the scene by 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning.

According to a Chester Fire Department press release, the cause of the fire was a space heater and that one of the occupants tried, unsuccessfully, to put it out with a fire extinguisher before evacuating. In addition to the occupants, five dogs and one cat got out of the building. Wilson said a second cat may have escaped but had not been found as of Monday afternoon.

Information about the family and how you can help will be gathered today.