FIRE DESTROYS BARN IN ST. ALBANS; ANIMALS SAVED
Story and photos by Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
ST. ALBANS TOWN: When the St. Albans Town Fire Department showed up at their station this evening, they were ready to fight fire- but they expected it to be a controlled burn in St. Albans City.
That’s because a property owner who is demolishing a home on Adams Street gave the City and Town Fire Departments permission to train on the building, including setting fires to put out in a controlled manner. The two Fire Departments had planned to work together Monday evening doing that training, but at around 6:07 pm, the St. Albans Town Fire Department was dispatched to a barn fire on Dunsmore Road.
The County Courier broke the news of the fire on Facebook about 45 minutes after the fire was reported.
There were already a handful of firefighters at the station, gearing up for their training when the call came in, giving the smoke eaters a jump on the call that they would not normally expect.
Dispatchers told the St. Albans Town Fire Department there was a barn fire, at where they would later learn was the original Dunsmore farm. The reports included information that there were animals still inside the barn.
Flames were showing from the structure, the dispatcher told responders as they raced to the scene. St. Albans City Department was called moments after the St. Albans Town Department was dispatched. They too had members at their station preparing for the live-fire training this evening, helping them get a quick response out the door too.
The Firefighters arrived to find a section of a large barn fully involved. It was attached to a bigger barn, and the heat from the flames was beginning to melt the siding of the home just across the driveway when crews arrived.
The quicker than normal response ensured that firefighters were able to begin cooling the home and dousing the barn to slow its spread but it would be about 20 minutes later before the fire was under control.
Dozens of firefighters from St. Albans City and Town were joined by crews from Georgia and Swanton, who responded with tankers to the scene to shuttle water from about a mile and a half away.
The firefighters were able to free the animals before they were severely injured, according to St. Albans Town Fire Chief Bobby Cross. The Chief did not know how many pigs were in the drift but said they were able to free them from the building and quickly get them to safety.
The cause of the fire is unknown. Firefighters saved the bigger barn from catching fire, as well as the house next door. A mobile home immediately adjacent to the fire did sustain significant damage from the blaze.
Chief Bobby Cross said the department was lucky to get such a quick response, but they did have trouble when they arrived on the scene.
“A good samaritan who was trying to get the pigs out of the barn was parked in our way,” Cross said. That lead to valuable time being lost as crews worked to move around that person’s vehicle in order to begin fire suppression efforts.
The barn which caught fire was owned by Carol Dunsmore, and was being used as a storage area for antique carriages, according to officials on the scene, including one that was owned by former Vermont Governor C. Deane Davis.
There was no word on the extent of financial damage from the fire or the level of insurance that the owner had on the property.
