Firefighters from the Grafton, Vermont Fire Department responded to a house fire on Townshend-Grafton Road in Grafton, Wednesday afternoon, April 21, 2004.
The fire, which consumed a small split-level ranch house, was discovered when a motorist saw flames and stopped at a neighbor's house to alert authorities. The neighbor then grabbed a garden house and ran to the house. The neighbor used the garden hose to knock down fire running up the outside wall of the house so that he could open the front door, allowing 2 dogs and a cat to escape unharmed.
When firefighters arrived, fire was blowing through the roof of the home.
Mutual aid for both pumpers and tankers was called from Townshend, Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, and Walpole, N.H. Firefighting efforts were hampered by strong winds which rekindled fires as quickly as they were extinguished.
The fire was placed under control after approximately 1 hour, with companies staying through the early evening for overhaul.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
