Vermont Firefighters save Barn during Three-Alarm Fire

Lyme – A three-alarm fire destroyed a historic cape house on Pinnacle Hill Road Saturday night, beginning near a wood stove in an ell of the building and drawing firefighters from at least nine nearby towns. No one was hurt.

The owners, Mark and Martha Tecca, found smoke pouring from the windows of the addition upon returning home that evening, Lyme Fire Chief Michael Hinsley said. His department responded to their call just before 6 p.m. and firefighters from Lyme, Thetford, Hanover, Orford, Fairlee, Norwich, Etna, Lebanon and even as far as Bradford joined them.

Hinsley said he believes the fire had started hours earlier and had hid among the beams of the ell until the Teccas arrived to notice it. By the time they did, it was mostly too late. Firefighters rushed water to the building with tanker trucks and pumps, but freezing conditions hampered their efforts and the size of the blaze was too great.

Around 11 p.m., Hinsley and his colleagues had “come to grips with the inevitable,” he said. “We spoke to (the Teccas) and said, ‘Look, we’re not going to be able to put the house out. We can’t do it safely.’ “

The firefighters kept working, venturing inside to rescue personal effects until the danger of collapse became too great.

“Suddenly we were faced with a fire in the ceiling, fire in the floor, fire in the walls, fire underneath us,” Hinsley said, and at that point, firefighters had to pull out.

Though the original clapboard farmhouse is now cinders, with only a chimney poking out, emergency workers managed to save the abutting barn and a woodworking business across the street.

Lyme assessing records date the post-and-beam building at 39 Pinnacle Hill Road to 1790, and estimate its replacement cost with the ell and the barn at just over $400,000. The records say the Teccas acquired the 2,933-square-foot house in 1993.

Hinsley said he was impressed by the response from the region’s firefighters, though, he added, “Man, it’s hard to feel good about those things, when there’s so much loss.”

The Teccas, he said, are “admired and loved” in his community, which is already reaching out to support them. The couple are staying with friends for the moment, the fire chief said.

A number of members of Hinsley’s department had spent time in the house on social occasions, he said, and so they knew when they arrived that the ell was “a maze” and would be difficult to salvage, as fire could be hiding in any number of places.

“One of the beauties of being a volunteer and serving in your community is you know the buildings, the properties and the people of your community that you’re able to serve,” he said. “The downside is when you try and you’re unsuccessful … ” he said, trailing off. “Man – man.”

Though only a forensic analysis could be certain, the Lyme chief said the fire “very clearly” started in the area of the wood stove and older chimney. He said the construction of the ell – a “balloon frame” as compared to the post and beam of the cape – likely contributed to the strength of the blaze and the eventual demise of the house.

Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com or 603-727-3242.