Nason Street Fire Photo From Shaun Coleman

[Henry]

Hi Henry,

I can't upload this to a new post.  Maybe security settings on my end.

I was making my way to the St A this afternoon with kids in tow around 3:40 p.m. when I saw this huge column of smoke coming from Nason St.  I snapped this from my phone so the quality isn't great.  The house looked fully engulfed.  Something exploded (grill?) near the front of the house prior to first responders arriving on scene (which they did a few seconds later).  I left immediately after to get out of the way of the crews and trucks arriving on scene.  Several passersby were trying to help.  Hopefully no one got hurt.

Thought I would share.
Take care,


Shaun Coleman

[MikeF9]

Holy crap!
I wonder where on Nason Street this was- above or below the railroad tracks. My grandfather(mom's father) used to live in Pryor's Trailer Park just below the tracks.

[cu_soon_pam]

Mike, I used to live on Nason St. and this looks like the 4th or 5th house on the left if you are driving down from South Main St.

[Henry]

The Burlington Free Press On Line has the following story on the fire:

St. Albans blaze injures man, destroys house

ST ALBANS — A roaring Sunday afternoon fire injured an elderly man and destroyed a home on Nason Street in St. Albans.

Firefighters received a call reporting the fire at 3:42 p.m. Sunday from the nearby J&L Service Center on South Main Street, St. Albans Mayor
Martin Manahan said. The firefighters arrived to find the house at 5 Nason St. in flames, with a tower of black smoke looming over the
neighborhood.

Authorities also found a burned elderly man outside the house who had been rescued by a neighbor.

The neighbor, Kyle Haggerty, 31, said he was driving by the house when he spotted the fire and saw the elderly man in the doorway, partly
out on the front porch. “His legs were on fire,” Haggerty said.

Haggerty said he beat out the flames on the man’s legs and backside and dragged him away from the house. The porch was beginning to burn
and Haggerty said he could see flames leaping inside the house.

 “I picked him up and he was really limp. I got him out on the cold snow,” Haggerty said.

As he extinguished any remaining flames in the man’s clothes, the victim told Haggerty there was a propane tank in the house, so Haggerty
said he pulled the man to a neighbor’s house across the street.

The man appeared badly injured, Haggerty said. “I know he’s got third-degree burns,” he said.

Haggerty said he was not hurt, aside from minor spot burns on his forearms. The adrenaline from the experience had Haggerty “shaking like a
leaf,” he said after the rescue.

The elderly man was taken to Northwestern Medical Center, Manahan said. As of late Sunday afternoon, the mayor said he did not have the
identity of the injured man, nor did he know the man’s condition.The victim was the only person in the house at the time the fire broke out,
Manahan said.

St. Albans City Fire Chief Joseph Beaudry said he did not immediately know the cause of the blaze, but an investigator was expected on the
scene Sunday night.

The house appeared to be destroyed, with almost the entire front half of the structure blackened and part of the roof burned away.

Firefighters from St. Albans, St. Albans Town and Georgia responded to the blaze, Manahan said.  Firefighters had the worst of the flames knocked
down in less than an hour.


http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100322/NEWS02/100321025/-1/HEADLINES01/St.-Albans-blaze-injures-man-destroys-house

[SColeman]

This was two or three houses down from Main on the right (above the tracks).  Photo taken from the Credit Union on Main Street. 

Shaun

[Chris Santee]

Great photo, Shaun !

STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
FIRE INVESTIGATION UNIT
VERMONT STATE POLICE
PRESS RELEASE

INCIDENT: House Fire

TROOPER: Det. Sgt. Jeremy Hill      STATION: St. Albans

DATE/TIME: 3/21/2010 1541 hrs

LOCATION: 7 Nason Street -- St. Albans

VICTIM: Orville Fields -- 73 years old

CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: St. Albans, VT

SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:

       On 3/21/2010 at approximately 1541 hrs. the St. Albans City and Town Fire Departments responded to 7 Nason Street in St. Albans for a report of a fire.  When the fire departments arrived the single occupant of the residence, Orville Fields -- 73, was being cared for by a passing motorists.  AMCARE (ambulance service) arrived on scene and began treating Fields for burns to his legs and lower torso.  AMCARE transported Fields to Fletcher Allen in Burlington.  Fields is currently in the intensive care unit at Fletcher Allen being treated for severe burns. 

      The St. Albans City and Town Fire Department fought the fire and were able to extinguish the fire before the residence collapsed.  The structure is heavily damaged and considered a total loss. 

       St. Albans City Police Department contacted the Vermont State Police to conduct an Origin and Cause fire investigation. On 3/22/10 Fire Investigators from the Vermont State Police and Division of Fire and Safety responded to the scene.  The fire is accidental and is not suspicious.  The State Police and St. Albans City Police Department are still investigating the incident. 

[Henry]

Mr. Fields was very fortunate that the young man noticed him in the doorway - Certainly a very heroic thing the young man (Kyle Haggerty, 31) did, especially dragging him away from the fire before the explosion took place.

[Henry]

Orville L. “Hank” Fields

St. Albans – Orville L. “Hank” Fields, 73, a longtime area resident passed away on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at the Fletcher Allen Health Care from injuries sustained in a fire at his home on March 21, 2010. He was born in West Virginia on July 30, 1936, the son of the late George Butterworth and Mary Hudnell.   Hank was married to the former Gwen Bockus, who survives him.

He served in the United States Air Force and then joined the Vermont Air National Guard. Upon his retirement, he owned and operated Hank’s Nuts and Bolts and he enjoyed tinkering on cars and woodworking.

Survivors include his wife, Gwen of St. Albans, their son David Fields and his wife, Anne of Milton and daughter, Deborah Gerow and her husband, Ted of New Haven, Vermont; his grandchildren, Kelsey and Alyssa. In addition to his parents, Hank was preceded in death by a brother, Russell.

Hank’s family will receive friends on Thursday, April 1, 2010, from 6 to 8 PM at the Heald Funeral Home, 87 South Main Street, St. Albans.  Interment will be later this spring in the Fields family lot in Holy Cross Cemetery.  Private messages of condolence to Hank’s family are welcome at www.healdfuneralhome.com.

[ASDuling]

Such a shame he passed away due to his injuries. When I first moved to the area I rented an apartment across the street, in the blue house, on Nason Street. Many times I came home from work in the winter to find Hank had cleared my driveway. He was a very kind and generous man.  My thoughts are with his family.