23 propane tanks aided Wednesday evening blaze at Salem bird farm
Salem — The sixth fire to ignite on a former pheasant farm in as many months destroyed a 20-by-20-foot structure Wednesday evening, according to fire officials.
Gardner Lake Volunteer Fire Co. Deputy Chief John Cunningham said the fire — the second blaze Wednesday and the third this week at 343 Old Colchester Road — began at about 6:25 p.m. and took somewhere between half an hour and an hour to quell.
Cunningham said firefighters, who’d been called for a smoke investigation at the address, found the structure fully involved upon arrival.
About 23 propane tanks were aflame inside it, he said, noting that they likely already were there.
Cunningham said officials remained on scene until about 10 p.m.
At about 11 a.m. Wednesday, firefighters also were at 343 Old Colchester Road, where a pile of debris had caught fire.
That fire took about 20 minutes to knock down, Cunningham said.
Prior to Wednesday, firefighters had worked to put out four fires on the property in the past six months, including two brush fires earlier this year, an Aug. 24 blaze that destroyed a 75-foot-long bird coop and a Tuesday fire that burned a 10-foot-long coop.
The farm until recently was home to thousands of pheasants, quail and partridges sold to local conservation, hunting and game clubs. It closed after the death of owner Donald Bourdeau Sr. in September and his wife, Anne, in February.
Anne Bourdeau in her will had left the farm to her son, Donald Bourdeau Jr., but as of Wednesday the case was making its way through probate court.
The 60-acre, overgrown property has no electricity. At this point, all of the fires are considered suspicious.
Because Salem’s fire marshal, Donald Bourdeau Jr., is the son of the farm’s former owners, Deputy Fire Marshal Ed Shafer has taken the lead on the investigation.
Also assisting in the investigation are detectives from the state police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit and from the Eastern District Major Crime Squad.
State police have asked anyone with information about the fires to call Detective Fratellenico at (860) 465-5456 or the confidential crime tip hotline at (860) 465-5469. People also can text “TIP711” and the information to 274637.
All calls and texts are kept confidential.
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