Cause unknown in Hartford fire

HARTFORD — No cause has been determined in the early Sunday morning fire that destroyed a home on Cary Hill Road,  homeowner Ken Schuler said Monday.

Fire ripped through the farmhouse at 198 Cary Hill Road around 3 a.m. Sunday, destroying it. The property had been struck by a tornado in early August, demolishing the adjacent barn.

On Monday afternoon, Schuler and his wife, Margaret, sat together on a rock in the middle of a field overlooking a panorama of mountains steeped in fall foliage. They waited for the insurance adjuster to arrive. Smoke still billowed from the remnants of the house.

Near the couple was the top of a hay rack sticking out of a tree stump like a modern sculpture. The farm equipment had been tossed across the field during the August tornado that tore a 16-mile-long path of destruction from Norway to Hartford where it blew apart the Schulers' barn.

"We will miss it. Our children will miss it," Margaret Schuler said as she gazed at the remains of the home she and her family lived in for more than 40 years.

The Schulers conveyed their appreciation to the 30 firefighters from seven towns that battled the early morning fire on Sunday. Firefighters from Buckfield, Turner Canton, Paris, Sumner, Hebron and Livermore were at the scene.

Buckfield Fire Chief Steven Campbell said Sunday that Schuler was at home and awoke to the fire early Sunday morning. The home caved in within 15 minutes of firefighters arrival, Campbell said.

Campbell was not available for comment Monday.

ldixon@sunjournal.com