Woman walks through 'wall of flame' to escape burning Gilford home

GILFORD — A woman apparently suffered significant burns but was able to escape her home in dramatic fashion as it burned around her, shortly after noon yesterday.

The first Fire Department Crew responding to 72 Varney Point Road called for a third alarm response to the fire, based upon the column of smoke they saw while approaching the scene. Crews from eight area fire departments assisted Gilford. The one story home, located just north of the town beach, was severely damaged to the point where it is no longer habitable. Radiant heat from the fire also damaged a nearby residence.

The woman, whom the Fire Department did not identify, was treated by paramedics for burns. She was transported to Lakes Region General Hospital and later to Massachusetts General Hospital for further treatment.

Ron Lien, of Gilford, was at Fay's Boat Yard yesterday to inquire about an engine part when he witnessed the blaze. As he was pulling out of the business, he noticed the small cabin directly across the street had a small area of flames showing on one end of the roof. He ran into the boat yard's store to have someone there call 9-1-1, then ran the few hundred feet back to the building, to find that the fire had quickly spread to engulf half of the building.

"The woman inside was screaming," Lien said as he recalled the scene. "I yelled at her to get out, get out, get out." Lien circled the structure, which he said was emitting flames 30 feet high and singing nearby pine trees. He could hear the woman's screams, but couldn't see her through the fire and smoke. Then he saw her.

"She comes out the door. Her hair's on fire," said Lien, still disbelieving what he saw moments earlier. He watched the woman walk – not run – through seemingly impenetrable flames to exit the house.

"I can't believe the wall of fire she came out of. I'm not embellishing this one bit, the flames were billowing out, the pine trees were on fire."

Lien said the woman was distraught but not seemingly badly hurt once out of the house. She told him that the fire was started by a candle near a television, and that she had tried to extinguish it herself. He said she seemed not to realize the near-miss she had experienced, and was mostly concerned with the loss of property and items in the home, instead of feeling relieved to be alive. She also told him that no one else, including pets, were in the home at the time.

"If you had poured gasoline on that fire it would not have gone faster," Lien said about the intensity of the blaze. Within a few minutes, he estimated, the fire had destroyed the home. "I cannot believe she walked out through that wall of fire, with her hair on fire."

Jeff Fay, part of the family that owns the boatyard, said he thinks the house has been there since the 1970s and that the couple that owns the property has been there for about six or seven years. He thought the lakeside cabin was used as a vacation property, though the owners would visit year-round.

According to 2009 tax records kept by the town, the property is owned by Deborah Roy. However, both Lakes Region General Hospital or Massachusetts General Hospital reported that they had no such patients by that name yesterday evening.

Fay said his family's business was fortunate that the wind was not blowing in the boat yard's direction, in which case the hot embers could have very easily ignited the shrink-wrapped sailboats and many wooden buildings, examples of each were less than 50 feet from the burning home. "It could have been a huge disaster," he said.