BELCHERTOWN — A Belchertown family lost their home to a fire Sunday night after firefighters fought the blaze on Bardwell Street for nearly five hours. No one was injured, but almost nothing remains just one week before Christmas.
“Life goes on. I mean, it’s just like a hurdle in the road,” said homeowner Frank Carey, 58. “I always say something happens for a reason, you know, so there’s got to be a reason why this happened. Maybe to make things better in the future or something. I don’t know, I have no answer.”
The blaze broke out at 526 Bardwell St. around 9 p.m. Sunday, and raged for hours before firefighters could subdue it around 2 a.m., according to Carey.
Firefighters reported it started from a wood stove downstairs, and Carey thinks it may have spread when it ignited a nearby fuse box. Firefighters from the Bondsville and Three Rivers fire departments assisted Belchertown Fire Department.
Carey’s wife, Raine, 50, and their son Jacob, 24, also managed to escape the house safely. Their younger son, Josh, 18, moved to East Longmeadow one month ago, but returned Sunday night around 10 to find his former home aflame.
Frank Carey, who grew up in Leverett, said the family sold their property on Washington Street almost a decade ago before moving to the home on Bardwell Street.
“It hasn’t really hit me that hard yet,” said Jacob Carey, who struggled through the smoke to make it out of his second-floor bedroom. “It’s devastating, but like he said, life goes on and you’ve just got to make the best of it.”
On Monday afternoon, the family was sifting through the ashes looking for salvageable documents, clothing, and car keys. Frank Carey found a trophy plate from his 1987 stock car championship win at Monadnock Motor Speedway, and half of a charred photograph from another victory in a higher division years after.
The night of the fire, the family slept in their pickup truck before Carey left for his job as a truck driver at 4 a.m.
“Right now it just keeps my mind going, you know,” Carey said. “I don’t want to be stagnant and just freak out on what happened. It ain’t gonna make it any better.”
The family hopes insurance will cover their losses, but they are still waiting to find out. In the meantime, the Careys will seek help from family, friends and the Red Cross, they said.
Josh Carey said he plans on starting a GoFundMe campaign to cover costs of new clothes and temporary housing.
Sarah Robertson can be reached at srobertson@gazettenet.com. Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.