All five WHFD Fire Companies Battle Blaze

  Group 2 had their hands full on February 11th at shortly before 3pm when ERC got reports of smoke in the area of Mountain Farms Road.  Upon searching the area Quint 4 found heavy smoke coming from number 27 The Crossways, home to William Beckerman.  At that point Q-4 reported a working fire, pulled the quint into the home's driveway and advanced an attack line into the structure, a sprawlling single family ranch style home.  Engine 2's crew vented as Engine 5's crew advanced a second line into the structure to back up Q-4's. The fire on the first floor was darkened down and it was determind that the major body of fire was in the basement.  A primary search revealed the building to be unoccupied. As a third attack line was stretched to battle the fire all attempts to make the basement by the first two crews were unsuccessfull as the stairs had been severly damaged by fire. Command issued the order to go defensive when the floor became unstable. Also battling the fire were the crews of Quint 3 and Engine 1 as well as mutual aid companies from Bloomfield and Avon.  Please see the Hartford Courant article on Feb 13th for mare details.  Additional companies from Hartford, UCONN Health Center and Bloomfield provided coverage to the Town at Stations 2 and 4 while West Hartford companies maintained continued operations at the scene. 

Update:  The owner of the house, William Beckerman, has since been charged with arson.  The Hartford Courant reported that there were three points of origin in the basement  that led to the homes destruction.