Whitefield firefighters pounced on an early Saturday morning fire that professional artist Joan Tibbetts said could have been “so much worse.”
While devastated by the loss of her studio and its irreplaceable contents in the Hilton Road house where she sculpts one-of-a-kind dolls, paints watercolors, and makes distinctive cards, Tibbetts is grateful that she, husband Bruce and their grown daughter, who called 9-1-1 from a cordless phone, escaped with their lives.
Smoke detector batteries failed to work and the suspected culprit is a wall-mounted gas heater that the Tibbetts’ believe malfunctioned.
Fire chief Tim Pellerin said he had hardly arrived at the scene, within about 12 minutes of the call, when four firefighters rolled in aboard Engine 2.
The average national response time is 14-18 minutes, he said.
“Smoke was pouring out the eaves,” Pellerin said. When deputy chief Scott Higgins pulled up, Pellerin said, “It couldn’t have been any more textbook. The fire was put out with less than 100 gallons of water and minimal damage. I give Scott credit and the crews below him. We have a top-notch department.”
Crediting mutual aid as well, he said, “The system paid off. I’m proud of the members.”
When Bruce and Joan Tibbetts woke up about 6 a.m. their house was full of smoke. “We were glad we woke up when we did and that the fire department got here when they did. The fire was headed up the walls, toward the roof. There were a lot of chemicals (in the studio) that could have been accelerants that were in danger of exploding,” Joan said.
“We’re thankful that it was contained.”
The family acted quickly to turn off the gas at the tank, rescue five kittens, and vacate the house. There is still a smell of smoke, “the sheetrock is compromised, and the curtains melted off the walls,” Tibbetts said, but windows and roof are intact and the family is able to live in the home.”
“You get discouraged. I have a lifetime of work that’s lost,” including portfolios and creations she made when she was nine and 12 years old that can’t be replaced, the artist said. “Then you look around and say it could have been worse. Thank God – and the Whitefield Fire Department.”
