HINSDALE, Mass. (AP) -- If given lemons you make lemonade, then if given snow, why not use it to battle a fire?
About a dozen Hinsdale firefighters trekked three-quarters of a mile to put out a fire at a burning, one-story seasonal camp on Bullard's Crossing Road on Saturday evening. Since the road was not plowed, fire trucks and other vehicles could not reach the scene, and the firefighters had to carry their equipment, including five-gallon water cans on their backs, to reach the cottage.
They shoveled snow through a bedroom window and pumped water from the cans that usually are used for brush fires to knock down the cabin's flames. Firefighters were at the scene for more than three hours.
Fire Chief Larry Turner said it was the first time his people ever had to use snow to put out a fire.
The fire, which Turner labeled suspicious, burned out a room in the cabin. The blaze was reported by passing snowmobilers.
Owner Jennifer Moon Scace of Fishers Island, N.Y., told Turner that the cabin still has its roof, and can be rebuilt.
