MONKTON — A couple in Monkton were rousted out of their beds in the middle of the night this past Saturday by a fire that claimed their home but not their lives.
“What saved them was the smoke alarms; that’s what woke them up — that and the CO detectors,” Monkton Fire Chief David Layn said of the fire at the home of Rob Durand and Lisa Gorham at 151 Cat Tail Lane.
Layn described the blaze as a chimney fire that broke though into the structure’s attic. The house was a total loss.
The call went out to the Monkton Fire Department at 12:15 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9. A Monkton firefighter lives nearby and helped raise the alarm. Between 30 and 35 firefighters from the Monkton, Starksboro and Hinesburg fire departments responded to battle the blaze. The New Hampshire/Vermont Region of the American Red Cross supported first responders with food and drink while the fire is being addressed.
At one point the couple’s cats ran from the home and initially couldn’t be found by their owners; but a Monkton firefighter found the fearful felines.
The last Monkton firefighters left the scene by mid-morning; the home was destroyed, but a garage on the property was spared.
The garage may be the only bright light because that’s where Durand runs his contracting business, Beagle Builders. Monkton Town Clerk Sharon Gomez said she heard the couple was trying to work out of the garage. The Independent’s attempts to reach Durand and Gorham were unsuccessful.