A fast-moving blaze that destroyed part of the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford Friday likely was not arson, the local fire marshal and state police said Tuesday.
The cause of the fire Friday night that consumed several workshops at the camp founded by actor Paul Newman is still under investigation, Fire Marshal Richard Whitehouse said, but “it doesn’t appear to be suspicious.” State investigators are assisting in the probe and state police spokesman Trooper Josue Dorelus confirmed that nothing uncovered so far points to arson.
An accelerant-sniffing dog did not alert to any areas, Whitehouse said. Also, at the time of the fire, 10 inches of snow covered the ground and investigators found no footprints leading to or away from the unoccupied buildings, he said.
An automatic fire alarm went off just before 5 p.m., and witnesses soon began calling in reports of a huge smoke column and flames.
Arriving firefighters found the attached Arts & Crafts, Woodshop and Camp Store buildings ablaze and flames licking at the Cooking Zone building. That’s where they held the line, preventing the fire from reaching the dining hall.
Whitehouse said firefighters had trained to fight a blaze at the camp, which served children with serious illnesses. He credited local and neighboring town firefighters with saving the dining hall and the infirmary, which both house works of art that chronicle the camp’s 32-year history.
Camp officials pledged to rebuild the workshops that made up the “Downtown Camp,” styled like a miniature, Old West city block — an homage to Newman’s classic film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
Also, Travelers and the Travelers Championship announced it would match up to $1 million in donations for the rebuilding. Travelers and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp have worked closely together over the years as the camp has been a primary beneficiary of the Travelers Championship’s charitable donations for the past 14 years.
Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com
