Fire Races through Tunbridge Farmstead

By Sandy Cooch

Firefighters from four towns spent more than eight hours Saturday battling a fire that ripped through a barn-ell-farmhouse complex on Tunbridge's Kibling Hill Road.

A tenant who had been sleeping in an apartment, the only person in structure at the time of the fire, escaped unharmed. Most of the rambling, 19th-century structure was destroyed.

The property is owned by builder George White, who was out of town at the time of the fire, with his partner Mary Zentara. According to Tunbridge Fire Chief John Durkee, the fast-moving fire was apparently sparked by a hair-dryer that White had turned on to thaw out a pipe, and had absent-mindedly left on.

Durkee said that when firefighters arrived just after 3:30 p.m. Saturday, the fire had already swept through a connected barn, shed, and apartment ell, and was threatening the main part of the house.

Tenant Deborah Hansen-Ollennu of Ghana just managed to escape the apartment, before flames shut off her two exit doors, he said.

There were smoke alarms in the apartment, but they had not yet sounded: That's how fast the flames were traveling, Durkee said.

The Kibling Hill location, just off Potash Hill Road, presented firefighters with water problems. Chief Durkee said the brook was so shallow that they couldn't get a flow through the hoses, so a valuable 15-20 minutes were spent damming up the brook with a tarp and firewood, to create a deep-enough pool.

A backhoe was called on scene, to rip the apartment addition from the main house, helping firefighters to control the northward march of the fire.

White has already indicated he will rebuild. Durkee, who characterized White as a first-class builder, added, "If anybody can rebuild, George can."

Chelsea, Royalton, and Strafford departments assisted, and firefighters were on scene until about midnight.

White, Zentara, and Teagan lost most everything in the fire; their tenants did lose all.

Neighbors Help

Mary Zentara said yesterday that she, White, and his daughter Teagan are staying at the Mark Lefevbre and Ella Paapius residence. Zentara noted that the property was insured, but neither she, nor the Hansen-Ollennus had insurance on their personal possessions. Losses are particularly acute for their tenants, Zentara stressed.

Neighbors Townsend and Felicity Swayze have welcomed Deborah Hansen-Ollennu into their home, and are helping her to replace her Ghanaian passport, U.S. green card, and other essentials lost in the fire.

Hansen-Ollennu and her husband Jeremy, a Vermont Law School graduate, have lived in the area for about three years.

Jeremy, who returned to Tunbridge this week, has been living this year in Brussels, Belgium, working on his international law degree. Deborah, a nursing student, was working nights as a nurse's aide at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She literally escaped the fire with only her nightgown and slippers.

The loss of the White home, formerly the home of Henry and Cornelia Swayze, has also been an emotional blow to the Swayze family, the Swayzes said this week.

Swayze commended the Vermont Red Cross as being an "absolutely wonderful" resource in the wake of the fire.

An Upper Valley disaster action team and vehicle responded, and provided food, Red Cross comfort kits, seasonal garments, clothing, food for one week, bedding and linens, "and most importantly, a teddy bear," the Red Cross said.

Townsend Swayze said a fund drive has been already organized, and that tax-deductible donations may be made payable to The Tunbridge Church, with "fire" on the memo. Checks may be sent to Townsend Swayze at 56 Swayze Road, Tunbridge, 05077.

He noted that a list of needed household items for the two families is being created, and that information on the list and drop-off points will be forthcoming.

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