| The Sandisfield Times |
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| Thanksgiving Fire Destroys Historic Barn
No Injuries, But Barn and Contents a Total Loss |
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by Tom Christopher Published December 1, 2025 |
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 The c. 1770s barn in 2011, one of Sandisfield's most historic structures. (Photo: Ron Bernard.) |
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It was their son's dog that saved their house at 154 New Hartford Road, say Eva and Jean Paul Blachere. The family had assembled for Thanksgiving Dinner and the dog had been shut in its crate in the barn. Soon after 4:00 p.m., though, the dog nevertheless appeared at the door of the house. When the celebrants went to see how it had escaped from its confinement, they found the barn enveloped in flames. What ensued was tragic, but far better than it could have been. It was also a compelling vindication of the measures regarding the fire department adopted at Sandisfield's recent Special Town Meeting. The decision to continue funding per diem employees, for example, meant that a firefighter, in this case Fire Chief Michael Grillo, was already on watch in Firehouse #2 when the Blacheres' emergency call to 911 was relayed to the chief at 4:14. Grillo arrived at the scene of the fire with the town fire engine just 7 minutes later. The speed of this response proved to be crucial, Grillo says, for the fire, which had already burst through the barn's roof, had ignited the surrounding bushes and was threatening to spread to an adjacent field and the Blacheres' house and guest house. With the thousand gallons of water in the fire engine, Grillo and the Sandisfield Fire Department volunteers, who appeared within minutes, contained the flames' spread and wet down the guest house which was downwind of the barn, preventing it from catching fire.
 The barn, fully engulfed in fire. (Photo: Sandisfield Fire Department) However, a protocol had been recently put in place to automatically notify the departments in Riverton, which soon arrived with a vital supply of water, and New Marlborough and Colebrook, which sent crews and fire engines. Before Chief Grillo had even arrived at the fire, he had realized that it was serious by the quantity of smoke he saw billowing into the air, and he had put in a call to Mutual Aid, which triggered a response to additional nearby communities so that a total of eight fire departments joined together in fighting the fire. The barn could not be saved. One of the oldest structures in Sandisfield, is believed to date from the 1770s. An outstanding example of an "English" style barn, it was the work of a famous family of barn builders, the Dowds, and had been meticulously restored by the Blacheres in 2006. It had also housed a collection of antique furniture the Blacheres had moved from a recently sold winter home in Savannah, Georgia. By 8:30, when the fire was out and the exhausted firefighters returned home, there was nothing left besides cinders and charred bits of timbers. Despite this loss, the Blacheres were grateful that none of their family - not even the dog - had been injured, that the main dwelling was unharmed. Even the guest house suffered only a single cracked window and the melting of its surrounding trim. Eva and Jean Paul described the response of the Sandisfield Fire Department as "amazing." Chief Grillo credited the residents of Sandisfield and its Select Board who had brought the Fire Department intact through a recent period of turmoil and supported the reforms that had enabled the quick response. |
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©The Sandisfield Times. All rights reserved.
Published December 1, 2025