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Small Town Comes Together After House Fire Kills Mother And Four Children

The exact cause of an early Saturday morning fire that nearly wiped out an entire family in rural western Massachusetts is not yet confirmed. Investigators said the blaze in a single family home on a dirt road deep in Warwick could have started at a wood stove in the kitchen. It appears to be accidental.

On Sunday, residents turned out to mourn the loss of a mother who was active in town activities, and her four children.

While authorities have not identified the victims of the fire by name, everyone in this small town knows whose house burned down, and many know the family personally. The father — Scott Seago — survived the blaze, along with one child.

They were among the crowd at the elementary school in Warwick Sunday afternoon, along with at least 100 others — a large portion of this town of just 800 residents.

State Senate President Stan Rosenberg from Amherst was here, as was state Representative Susannah Whipps, who lives in nearby Athol. On her way out, Whipps said most of the towns in her district are small, like Warwick. And people really look out for each other.

“You have to when you live out here,” Whipps said. “I mean, we’re in a community with virtually no broadband service, [a] small school. It’s a beautiful place to live. It’s a quiet place to live. It’s a true village.”

Warwick is right at the New Hampshire border, one of several sparsely populated towns with a lot of land in what’s called the North Quabbin region. Fire departments from all around show up to help out, as they did Saturday. But the blaze had consumed the house by the time they arrived.

Whipps said a woman who was inside the school sold the Seagos their home a few years ago. She lives nearby, and she brought pictures over. This family has lost everything, Whipps said.

“Everybody comes together, and everybody’s hurting,” she said.

One Warwick resident who came out of the school said he worked with Scott Seago on the town’s broadband committee. Another was a substitute teacher at the elementary school, and knew the kids. But almost no one wanted to speak with the media.

David Young, the town coordinator in Warwick, would talk — a little. Standing outside the school, after almost everyone left, he said the event was helpful. For him, uplifting.

“A lot of people from the community turned out. We’re trying to figure out what to do next. I know the school is pretty well prepared for helping the kids through this [Monday],” Young said.

But Young on Sunday didn’t mention the family by name. He said he can’t, until the district attorney releases that information. But as an official, he said, he knew the family well. He described the mother, Lucinda Seago, whose name is on the town website, as business-like.

“Very much on top of things. Competent and smart, and a member of our Board of Health,” he said. And she had recently completed her degree to become a registered nurse.

Like their parents, Young said, the kids are incredibly bright. He said he he thinks they range from ages 6 to 15.

“I felt terrible for the surviving child who was here, in our midst,” Young said. “She held up well by all appearances, but I can’t imagine…I can’t imagine…” he trailed off.

Inside the school, after the politicians spoke, Young said people sat around talking to each other. A couple of residents who worked on the broadband committee left early to buy Scott Seago a new cellphone.

Where the house stood is now a mound of burned debris, with nearby cars licked by flames. There are no hydrants in Warwick, Young said. There are “fire ponds.” That’s part of rural life, he said.

 

Belchertown Police Say ‘Zero Tolerance’ For Trespassing On Former State School Property After Vacant Building Burns Down

Police are calling the early Thursday morning fire suspicious. Clean-up crews spent hours clearing out the charred remains of a one-time staff dormitory located on the former Belchertown State School property.

According to the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corporation, which owns the property, the building was ultimately going to be torn down, along with about two dozen others, to make way for future commercial and residential development. Going forward, the EDIC is proposing more security around the property.

Like “towing during the evenings,” says EDIC’s Bill Terry, “because when [trespassers] lose their cars they’ll figure out they weren’t supposed to be there in the first place, and security cameras plugged right into the police stations.”

Belchertown Police say trespassing has increased since the EDIC purchased the land from the town last year.

The hurdles to develop more than 80 acres of dilapidated property began years ago. Former Massachusetts State Senator Gail Candaras told NEPR  last year the problems may have begun when, for the price of $1, the state of Massachusetts transferred the title of the land to town officials. Belchertown became responsible for finding developers willing to pay for the costly clean-up of decaying buildings full of asbestos and other hazardous materials.

After years of lobbying, the state provided $10 million  for the clean-up and essentially a realtor, in the form of MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development authority.

But according to the Daily Hampshire Gazette, the Boston-based developer chosen to build an 83-unit assisted living complex on the grounds of school “failed in its most recent bid to be awarded low-income housing tax credits from the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.”

That means construction on the proposed development will not begin for at least another year.

 

 

 

Fire at Forbes Library Causes Shutdown of Entire Second Floor

A fire at the Forbes Library in Northampton, Massachusetts caused more damage than expected, resulting in the entire second floor being shut down for several weeks.

Library Director Janet Moulding says the fire took place in the main stairwell, destroying part of the 120-year-old wooden bannister. To replace that alone, she says, early estimates range from five to  ten thousand dollars.

“The major expense will be the clean-up,” Moulding says. “The entire second floor, which is roughly 10,000 square feet, is all covered with dust from  the fire extinguishers and smoke and soot.”

The second floor contains many books, DVD’s, music CD’s, computers, oriental rugs, valuable art work and the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum.

Northampton Police say they believe the fire was set intentionally and they have a suspect in custody.

An Unexpected International Marketplace Goes up in Flames

In Hadley, Massachusetts, investigators are still searching for the cause of a Sunday night fire that in a matter of hours wiped out more than a dozen small businesses. They were housed in a strip mall along Route 9 which in some ways was an international marketplace, in a town where you might not expect it.

Thousands of cars a day drove by the mall as they travelled on Route 9, and it a couple of days after the fire, it appeared that every single one of them slowed down for a moment to look at the burnt out store fronts. Route 9 is a major road between two college towns. Many people just pass thru on their way somewhere else, but for others, the stores were a haven for computer repair, a place to get your pants hemmed, or a destination to find foods and products from around the world.

Hai Cheng is the owner of the International Trade Market, one of the stores that went up in flames.

“We carry a lot of Indian products, Indian spices, South East Asian spices, Chinese products, Vietnamese, some Cambodian, Thai, Laos. And fresh fruits when in season,” Cheng said.

Put your face close-up to the chain link fence that went up around the stores remains in the hours after the fire was put out and you’ll see some of those products. They’re somehow still standing on shelves inside Cheng’s store. Cheng bought the business almost two years ago from friends.

As a back hoe scooped up tons of charred debris, he and several other business owners watch, seeing what left of their livelihoods. Refrigerator units were visible. So were broken glasses, tables and chairs, canned goods, and what was meat and produce. While they watched from distance, several fire investigators stood inside the fenced area, looking for the cause of the blaze that for Cheng and other store owners wiped out years of savings.

“You pour everything you have had into this business,” Cheng said. “And now it’s gone. This took all that we had away in one moment.”

Cheng came to western Massachusetts as a teenager from Cambodia. He was a refugee and an orphan and was raised by a family just a few towns away. He’s spent much of his working life as a school guidance counselor in the eastern Mass. But when his wife got a job at UMASS Amherst, they returned here and are now raising their two young children in Hadley.

Cheng said running a store had a big learning curve. He said he was just starting to get the hang of it.

“I wanted to try a new area – small business which is at the heart of Americans’ life, ” he said.

Business was good and picking up, and Cheng said he had a variety of customers who were white, Asian, and African. He ran his store alongside a market owned by a Moroccan – who carried products from north Africa and Halal certified meat. On the other side, a Vietnamese take out place that sold Banh Mi sandwiches.

Banh Mi Saigon owner Chuong Son, proudly described the sandwiches he used to make here. He said they were originally inspired by the French baguette. But the Vietnamese make it in their own way.

“It started with head cheese, food that was tough to eat, basically,” Son said. “And they put that together with pate and it caught on.”

Son  opened Banh Mi Saigon about a year and half ago. He’s no stranger to the food business — he was a cook at a UMASS dining hall. He came to the area from Vietnam when was seven, and it was his wife – also Vietnamese – who wanted to open the shop.

“She wanted to live the American dream and the opportunity presented itself,” he said.

Together with his family’s help, they put about $130,000 into that dream. And Son, like others including the owners of Greggory’s Pastry, Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant, and the computer store – they’re waiting to hear from their insurance companies.

It’s hard to see the place gone overnight, Son said. But after all his family already went through leaving Vietnam, this is nothing.

“We can overcome this,” Son said. “There’s people out there now that don’t have much, that’s going through much, much more heart ache than we’re going through.”

Son plans to rebuild. He may have to go elsewhere, but he’d like to find a place right here in Hadley.

Tony Maroulis, Executive Director of the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, whose membership includes many Hadley businesses, says one of the surprises about Hadley is that many people see the town as dominated by Big Box stores. But Maroulis says there’s probably more small immigrant based business within Hadley, than within the rest of Hampshire County. “It’s of course a community that was built by immigrants, mostly Polish and Irish immigrants before, and now and they’ve been there for several generations. But the new demographic of Hadley is one is very diverse and one that is quite different than what we think a New England community like this would be.”

International Food market owner Hai Cheng says he’s still tallying the loss of his business, and it’s already in excess of $250,000.

“What I got from insurance, I’m not sure yet. I just hope to restart,” he said.

The former school guidance counselor says, at least that’s how he’s thinking about on this day.

Fire Destroys Strip Mall in Hadley, Mass., Route 9 Reopened

A section of Route 9 has reopened after closing when a fire engulfed a business complex in Hadley, Massachusetts Sunday night.

The blaze started just after 7 pm, and spread quickly through the entire complex, home to several businesses and restaurants including Banh Mi Saigon, College Pro Computers, Mi Tierra Mexican Restaurant, Casablanca Halal Market, and Wing Wong Chinese Restaurant. 

“This is a decades-old building, it’s all wood construction, multiple roofs on it, no sprinkler system,” says Lindsay Stromgren, an assistant chief with the Amherst fire department. “So it got up into the roof ways and pretty much traveled throughout the whole building.”

Nancy Chan, owner of Wing Wong, says the fire didn’t spread to her business until about midnight. She says she’s not sure whether she will rebuild or reopen the restaurant.

The cause of the fire is still unknown. An investigation by the Massachusetts State Fire Department is ongoing. Route 9 reopened around 2:30 Monday afternoon.

 

NY, MA Officials Modify Air Advisories After Industrial Fire

New York state officials have lifted an air advisory near the site of an industrial fire in West Ghent, New York, saying the fire is nearly out and air tests are coming in clean. New York officials say tests of soot from the fire show no PCB contamination, and Massachusetts officials have modified their advisory for downwind Berkshire County towns. They now say residents may go outdoors, open windows, and utilize air conditioners and fans. Further analysis and testing will continue through the night, but they have several cautions: 

• Limit outdoor activity, avoiding contact with flat surfaces (bleachers, picnic tables, deck furniture, playground equipment, etc.) where contaminants could have landed and still be present.

• It is not recommended that children or pets play in fields where contaminants could be on the grass or dirt surfaces.

• Agricultural restrictions will remain in place, with farm animals sheltered in barns and stables and placed on stored feed and water.

• Crops, even home gardens, should not be picked or consumed until further testing is finished.

For more information, you can go to the Massachusetts emergency management agency’s web site. 

The fire at TCI of New York broke out Wednesday night in a small industrial park 15 miles west of West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, triggering explosions and a fireball rising hundreds of feet into the air, according to witnesses. Clouds of black smoke continued rising Thursday as firefighters sprayed foam over the fire, which was being fueled by sodium, diesel, propane and mineral oil. The blaze was finally extinguished This [Thursday] afternoon. A large amount of soot from the fire spread over nearby vehicles and homes. Safety officials were concerned about the presence of PCBs, a probable human carcinogen once used in some electrical equipment, at the site. Initial air tests in New York for the substance came back negative.