Fire at Waterford Estates leaves 17 homeless

An early-morning fire of undetermined origin leveled a former motel housing efficiency apartments at Waterford Estates on Route 106 on Tuesday, leaving 17 people homeless.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110921/NEWS02/709219969

Fire at Waterford Estates in North Springfield leaves 17 homeless

A fire at Waterford Estates early Tuesday morning left 17 people homeless. The fire destroyed a wing of the former Aby-Lynn Motel, which had been converted to small apartments.

Susan Smallheer / Staff photo

By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer - Published: September 21, 2011

NORTH SPRINGFIELD — An early-morning fire of undetermined origin leveled a former motel housing efficiency apartments at Waterford Estates on Route 106 on Tuesday, leaving 17 people homeless.

No one was hurt in the fire, Springfield Fire Chief Russell Thompson said. He said some tenants were checked at the scene for possible smoke inhalation, and another tenant later took herself to Springfield Hospital to be checked for a previous medical condition.

Thompson said state fire investigators were on the scene Tuesday morning and did not pinpoint the cause of the fire, which destroyed a one-story building that once housed a motel and had been turned into efficiency apartments.

A total of 12 families were left homeless and there were a number of children in those families, said Bruce Pollock of the American Red Cross.

One of those suddenly homeless people was Keri Martin, who escaped with the clothes on her back and her cell phone.

“We were getting ready for bed when the lights went out and we went out the door to find out what was wrong,” said Martin, as she sat in her car near the charred wreckage, waiting for a friend.

“I didn’t save anything,” said Martin, who said she had lived there for about a year. Her roommate, Angela Gray, sat in stunned silence in the front seat of the car, in her pajamas.

Perry Frasca, the maintenance man at the complex, that there was some talk that tenants saw smoke coming from the utility room, which is used for storage and also contains the complex’s electrical breaker boxes.

“The smoke detectors were going off so everybody was roused,” said Frasca, who added people were out of their apartments before there were visible flames.

Martin and Frasca had praise for the owners of the building, Bonnie and Dennis McPadden.

“Bonnie is a wonderful person,” said Martin, who noted that the McPaddens had offered to put up five of the fire victims in vacant apartments in the Waterford complex.

“They are so helpful, they are wonderful people,” said Frasca.

The fire chief said more than 50 firefighters from seven surrounding towns helped the local department extinguish the blaze.

The fire chief said the building, which was originally a wing of the former Aby-Lynn Motel, was fully involved with flames when firefighters arrived shortly after 2 a.m.

The Green Mountain Chapter of the American Red Cross came to the scene of the fire and later set up a service center at the Springfield Community Center.

Beth Baldwin of Brattleboro, a volunteer with the Red Cross, said the fire victims had already been given money for food, clothing and shoes, and that details about emergency housing were still being worked out.

In the wake of the large downtown fire at Brattleboro’s Brooks House, coupled with the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene, any housing close by is practically non-existent, she said.

Aida Pluss of the Calvary Baptist Church came to the Red Cross center to offer her church’s help, whether it was collecting clothes or feeding the now-homeless.

Baldwin said the Southeastern Vermont Community Action thrift store in downtown Springfield would provide people with clothes and household goods, once they found a place to live.

Pluss said the church wanted to put on a dinner for the fire victims, but Baldwin said all the people had been given money for food. The Springfield Family Center has a noontime meal every day, Baldwin said.

Thompson, the fire chief, said heavy fire was showing in five apartments when firefighters arrived, and all 14 units in that building were destroyed.

Firefighters made a trench cut vent to protect the office area of the complex.

Fire departments assisting Springfield at the scene were Ascutney, Weathersfield, Reading, Ludlow, Bellows Falls, Chester and Charlestown, N.H., with ambulances from Charlestown and Golden Cross on standby.

People who wish to help the families affected by the fire can donate clothing or household items to the SEVCA thrift store, Baldwin said, or send cash donations to the Green Mountain Chapter, American Red Cross, 81 High S., Brattleboro, VT 05301.