Spoonville Road Fire Brought Under Control

Firefighters from four companies quickly brought a small residential fire under control Friday morning in East Granby.

Eleven firefighters from East Granby, Simsbury, the Lost Acres Fire Department in Granby and the Air Guard were called to 153 Spoonville Road just after 9:15 a.m. and were able to limit the fire, which started through cracks of a wood burning stove’s chimney, to the wood paneling around the chimney, according to East Granby Fire Marshal Ken Beliveau.

“They use a chimney all year round, just about, so he’s burning 24 hours a day,” Beliveau said. “The chimney is older, it had some cracks in it and [the fire] extended from the cracks to the wood that surrounded it. … It stayed on the walls.”

Beliveau said that due to the localized nature of the damage, residents Diana and Mel Maddocks would be able to continue to live in the house.

“The house is habitable,” Beliveau said. “There was no damage to the interior structure or the living areas.”

The Maddocks were home when the fire started, though no one was injured, according to Beliveau.

Beliveau stressed that working smoke detectors played a major role in providing an early warning to the Maddocks, which is a particularly sensitive issue in the state in light of the Christmas blaze in Stamford that claimed the lives of five people.

Beliveau also noted that homeowners should clean their chimneys at least twice a year, including the flue.

“[Maddocks] got the clean-outs at the bottom of the chimney,” Beliveau said. “What happened was below the thimble of where the wood stove plugged into the chimney, from there to the clean-out below was fully packed with ash. That’s why the fire occurred.

“Thoroughly clean chimneys will prevent something like this.”

Captain Troy Wolf of the East Granby Volunteer Fire Department said that he was pleased with the team’s response.

“They got here quickly and they did a great job and made a great stop,” Wolf said.

Mel Maddocks, for his part, was grateful for the fast response.

“They were marvelous,” he said.