NEWFANE — Officials continue to investigate the cause of a fire on March 2 that gutted the Newfane Café & Creamery at 550 Route 30 as the community continues to come together to raise thousands of dollars to relieve the business owners and employees affected by the three-alarm blaze.
“We so appreciate the love and outreach during this difficult time,” wrote owners Ken Schatra and Denise Kiss on the restaurant's Facebook page. “We are blessed that no one was hurt. Words cannot describe how thankful we are for everyone's support and prayers.”
According to a release from the state Division of Fire Safety, the NewBrook Fire Department was dispatched to the building at about 3 p.m. for a report of a fire at the rear of the building, owned by Pamela and Brad Horn.
The fire was quickly upgraded to a second alarm and then a third alarm after the NewBrook crew's arrival, with heavy fire at the rear of the structure and coming from the gable ends of the attic.
“This fire was a hard fire to fight due to the second roof and bricks that [the building] was made with,” NewBrook fire personnel posted on the department's Facebook page. “We extend our thoughts to the owners of the building and business[es] in this building.”
Assistant State Marshall Paul S. Spicer wrote that the fire at the rear of the building was knocked down, but “extensive overhaul was needed due to void spaces created by previous additions constructed on to the building. An excavator was brought in to expose hot spots to aid in extinguishment.”
No injuries were reported and everyone in the building got out safely.
Twenty-six members of the department responded through a long night with freezing wind, with firefighters appreciating the contributions of food and coffee by Rick's Tavern and the Onyon family. By the next morning, sagging ruins were commingled with charred beams and ice.
NewBrook received mutual aid assistance from numerous surrounding fire departments, on scene and as station coverage, including Brattleboro, Dummerston, Townshend, Putney, Williamsville, Westminster, Jamaica, East Dover, Wardsboro, Grafton, Guilford, West Dover, Wilmington, South Londonderry, Peru, Winhall, and Stratton.
Assistance was also received from Rescue Inc., Vermont State Police, and Windham County CERT.
NewBrook contacted the Vermont State Police and requested an origin and cause fire investigation be conducted. Fire investigators with the Department of Public Safety's Fire Investigation Unit responded to the scene on March 3.
“Based on reports from initial fire crews, and through on scene investigation, we have determined the area of origin to be located under an exterior porch and set of stairs at the rear of the building where the restaurant stored broken down cardboard awaiting recycling,” wrote Spicer. “The fire then extended up the wall and into the eaves of the roof and into the attic eventually spreading throughout the structure.”
According to Spicer, the building is considered a complete loss and that “the cause of the fire is listed as undetermined, however, it is not considered 'suspicious.'”
Fundraiser held
Newfane Anew and the Four Columns Inn hosted a community get-together on March 6 for those affected by the fire, those that want to help, and those who just need to connect with community.
Newfane Anew members say they are getting a website up (newfaneanew.com) and setting up crowdfunding accounts to enable people to make donations.
As of Tuesday, a GoFundMe page has raised almost $11,000 toward a stated goal of $20,000. Another $560 has been raised by friends and neighbors on YouCaring.
At this point, Newfane Anew says the focus will be on the employees who have lost their jobs and on the businesses above the Café that have suddenly lost their space.
Burned out of their offices are the health professionals who comprise the Newfane Wellness Center: acupuncturist and herbalist Carol Ann Fitzgerald; Allison Trowbridge, massage therapist; and therapist Jim Carew.
The West River Valley Thrives initiative also shared the upstairs space, and staff there “barely got out with laptops - otherwise, they have lost everything!” wrote Robin Rieske, a regional prevention consultant with the state Department of Health in a post on Facebook urging support for the regional substance abuse prevention coalition.
The community has mourned the loss of the café, which Schatra and Kiss opened in 2008 after four months of renovation.
They began the business with partners Susan Tondreau and Peter Solley, who left to pursue the company that is now Vermont Gelato.
In a story about the fledgling restaurant in the July 2009 issue of The Commons, writer Thelma O'Brien observed that “[f]or whatever reasons -maybe an abundance of fresh, local, made-on-the-premises food, or its location, or the genuine staff - it has become a sort of stagecoach stop for skiers from the east, a meeting place for regulars, a food destination for the sociably hungry from all over, and for others, simply a surprise.”
Those sentiments held up over the course of dozens of comments on social media during and after the fire and in the aftermath of the fundraiser on Sunday.
One such customer and neighbor, Lee Parker of Brookline, sized up the situation on Facebook.
“There is a hole in the heart of the town,” she wrote.