Aumand & Sons furniture store badly damaged by fire
The Aumand family has been selling furniture in North Walpole for 88 years, and as his store smoldered, and lay in a charred heap Thursday afternoon, Raymond Aumand vowed that the tragedy would not get in the way of celebrating year number 89.
“I already have an insurance check in my pocket,” he said as firefighters continued spraying water on the smoking building around noon. “We’re going to come back bigger and better.”
Roy VanDusan, a volunteer with the North Walpole Fire Department who lives across the river in Bellows Falls, said the call came in at around midnight. When VanDusan crossed the Connecticut River he saw thick smoke coming from the back of the building and by the time the fire trucks arrived the store was fully engaged.
“I saw a glow from across the bridge,” he said after being up all night battling the blaze. “When I got the call I hoped it was a rescue but then I saw this.”
The store was packed with furniture, an employee said, and on Thursday morning thick, acrid smoke billowed from the wreck.
The sharp smell could be detected in downtown Bellows Falls.
A strong wind blew down the river and kicked up the smoke as burning embers continued to fall from the roof.
Aumand who said he lived nearby, was awoken by a firefighter with a bullhorn.
He arrived at the scene at around 12:30 a.m.,
but could do little else but watch as his business burned to the ground.
No one was injured in the fire, though a private home nearby suffered considerable damage.
Cable and electric service in the village was disrupted when a transformer in the vicinity blew, but it was mostly restored by the early afternoon.
Police closed Route 12 and sent drivers though Bellows Falls to avoid the scene.
Tags: bellows falls, blaze, bullhorn, fire department, fire trucks, furniture store, insurance check, north walpole, strong wind, thick smoke, thursday morning, tragedy, vicinityRelated posts
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