Colrain couple loses firewood supply in blaze

Colrain firefighters work to extinguish a woodshed fire on Saturday.

Colrain firefighters work to extinguish a woodshed fire on Saturday. COLRAIN FIRE DEPARTMENT

Colrain firefighters work to extinguish a woodshed fire on Saturday.

Colrain firefighters work to extinguish a woodshed fire on Saturday. COLRAIN FIRE DEPARTMENT

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

Staff Writer

Published: 10-29-2024 10:27 AM

COLRAIN — Community members are rallying together to raise money for a couple who lost their supply of winter firewood in a blaze on Saturday. 

The Colrain Fire Department was dispatched to 83 Archambo Road at 3:17 p.m., where the woodshed of Walter and Loralyn Boyd had caught fire after ashes from the woodstove were blown over and reignited, Fire Chief Nicholas Anzuoni said. 

Anzuoni said it was a windy day, and a gust of wind blew an ember right into the woodshed. 

Crews rushed to scene, and extinguished the fire by 6:30 p.m. In addition to Colrain, firefighters from Shelburne Center, Heath, Halifax, Vermont, Charlemont, Leyden, Bernardston, Greenfield, Buckland and Conway aided in response while a Readsboro, Vermont crew covered the Colrain station.

“They hit it really hard because they want it out as soon as possible so it doesn’t spread,” Anzuoni said. 

No injuries were reported, however, the woodshed and the supply of wood it contained were destroyed, and a little under an acre of grass and brush was burnt. 

“What they had in the woodshed was all their wood for the winter,” said Mariah Boyd, Walter and Loralyn’s daughter-in-law. “That’s the only heating source they had.” 

Immediately after reports of the fire were shared online, community members began asking how they could help and offering to donate wood. Mariah said her best friend Angie May created a GoFundMe to coordinate help, and hopefully fund a new woodshed and get it filled. 

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“We’re just trying to get a new woodshed together, and are taking it day by day,” Mariah Boyd said. 

By Monday night, donors had pitched in $400, just enough to purchase a cord of wood. To donate visit https://bit.ly/woodshedfundraiser

Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.