By Erin Scott, Staff Writer
A home on Barron Hill Road in Hartland was a total loss after a fire early Wednesday, July 15, but the cause remains undetermined, Hartland Fire Chief Scott Bowers said.
The fire was reported around 5 a.m. after neighbors saw the house burning. The homeowners had been away on vacation for a few weeks. No people or pets were inside.
The call came in as a confirmed structure fire, triggering an automatic first alarm response. Fire departments from Hartland, Windsor, Hartford and Woodstock responded.
Bowers said it took about 15 minutes for the first firefighters to reach the secluded rural property, which was accessible by a network of dirt roads. By the time crews arrived, the house was already largely consumed.
Firefighters initially could not confirm whether the homeowners were inside. A vehicle at the property added to the uncertainty, and neighbors did not know whether the homeowners were home or away.
“My greatest fear was that they were in the house,” Bowers said.
After he was unable to reach the homeowners, Bowers contacted their son, who lives outside Boston. The son confirmed that his parents were vacationing in New Hampshire. Bowers then had to tell him that the family home had been destroyed.
There were no fire hydrants or other water sources at the property, requiring firefighters to establish a rural water hauling operation. Bowers said Woodstock firefighters established a water supply at a dry hydrant near the Taftsville substation, and crews hauled water from there to the fire.
The lack of an on-site water supply added another challenge to a response involving a structure that was already heavily damaged when firefighters arrived. Bowers said it took approximately three hours to extinguish the fire.
The detached garage remained standing, and the vehicle inside was not damaged.
Because the house was a total loss, little physical evidence remained for investigators to determine where or how the fire began. Although the fire occurred during an overnight storm, Bowers said lightning has not been confirmed as the cause.
