Early Morning Fire Burns Down V's Doghouse

The Lanesborough Fire Department took this photo of the early morning fire.

Update 11:01 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2014:
The Sept. 28 fire at V's Dog House Restaurant was electrical, according state Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Lanesborough Fire Chief Charles A. Durfee.

The fire started inside a wall between the kitchen and bar around 4 a.m. The restaurant was closed at the time and there were no injuries. The estimated damage is $700,000. The building did not have fire sprinklers.

The fire was investigated by the Lanesborough Fire Department and state police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Assistance was received from an electrical expert and State Police Crime Scene Services.

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Update at 4:35 p.m.: The state fire marshal has ruled out arson as the cause of the blaze that destroyed V's Dog House early Sunday morning.

Fire Chief Charlie Durfee said there are two locations in the building that fire investigators are focusing on to determine the cause. He expected them to have an answer by noon Monday. 

The damage is estimated at $700,000, he said. The building (business was previously known as Zen's Dog House) was purchased by Edward L. Vella Jr. in 2009, according to documents in the Registry of Deeds.

Durfee also said the hydrants, owned by the Berkshire Mall, are maintained and functioning but firefighters ran into difficulties getting them open. There are no hydrants on the Route 8 side.

LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — V's Doghouse on Route 8 burned to the ground early Sunday morning.

 

Fire Chief Charlie Durfee said there were no injuries in the blaze that was extinguished by volunteer firefighters from more than a half dozen departments. Route 8 is expected to be closed between the Berkshire Mall entrances until the afternoon.

 

"The call came to the Police Department for a window break, which set off the burglar alarm. That's how we knew. The Police saw smoke in the building and called us," Durfee said.

 

Durfee said the call came in at 4:30 a.m. 

 

"Upon arrival we had heavy smoke coming from the eaves and in a matter of 10, 15 minutes we had flames coming from the roof," said Durfee.

 

That triggered an immediate mutual aid call for neighboring departments. Some of the fire hydrants at the Berkshire Mall were not functioning so nearly all of the tankers in Central Berkshire were called in to shuttle water from one working hydrant, Berkshire Pond and a pond behind the restaurant.

 

"We're running about 14,000 gallons of water per trip," Durfee said. "Once we got the tankers rolling, we had all kinds of water."

 

Initially, firefighters mounted an interior attack but the heat and flames became too much. The fire was the fought from the exterior.

 

"The building has a metal roof and that holds the heat in, which feeds the fire. It just kept getting hotter, hotter and hotter. Once it went through the roof there was nothing we could do," Durfee said. "It is a total loss."

 

In total some 50 volunteer firefighters responded from Lanesborough, Richmond, Hinsdale, Dalton, Cheshire, Savoy, Adams Forest Wardens and Hancock. Clarksburg sent a tanker truck to Cheshire because all of the others in central county were in use. Williamstown covered Lanesborough's station. 

 

"For 4:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning, this is a fantastic turnout," Durfee said.

 

The State Fire Marshal's office was on scene to determine the cause of the fire, which is currently unknown.