"This story could have had a very different ending," said Granby Fire Chief Russ Anderson.
05.25.2011 | Photo by Dave Roback / The Republican | Giles LaPlante of Granby was returning from a service call with Hampshire Towing when he spotted flames coming from a garage on Batchelor Street in Granby Tuesday evening. GRANBY - Had it not been for the actions of 20-year-old Granby resident Giles LaPlante Tuesday night, one local family may have lost much more to a fire than their garage.
LaPlante, a driver with Hampshire Towing, was on his way back from a service call in Chicopee just before 11 p.m. when he ended up becoming a hero as he alone spotted a fire on Batchelor Street as the entire neighborhood slept.
"I was coming down School Street and it was so foggy out I could barely see," he said. "I slowed way down and almost came to a stop. I smelled smoke and at first I thought maybe someone was having a camp fire. Then I turned onto Batchelor Street and I saw the flames."
Flames were coming from the garage behind the home at 380 Batchelor St. The house happens to belong to a friend of LaPlante's father.
"I stopped the truck with the flashers on and ran up to the house and started knocking. I've known him ever since I was a kid and he is good friends with my father," LaPlante recalled. "Everyone in the neighborhood was asleep but my truck is kind of loud and the lights were going. I think that got some people's attention and they started coming outside."
The fire had already destroyed much of the garage and melted the siding off the house 20 feet away when it was threatening to claim the homeowner's truck, which was parked next to the burning structure. But LaPlante's timing was on point enough for the owner to grab his keys, jump into the driver's seat and move it out of harm's way.
"They are very fortunate that he (LaPlante) spotted the fire when he did," said Granby Fire Chief Russ Anderson. "The danger of a nighttime fire like that is the flames can make their way into the soffit and then up to the attic, well above the smoke detectors and the family sleeping inside."
The fire ended up destroying the garage and causing extensive damage to a neighboring pool house, but LaPlante's 911 call as he pulled up made the difference in limiting the damage and potentially saving the family's life.
The garage also doubled as a workshop, as the homeowner is a carpenter, according to LaPlante.
"If I would have been later it could have been a lot worse," LaPlante said. "It's sad that he lost his workshop but you can rebuild a garage -- not a person."
The Granby Fire Department along with Belchertown and South Hadley firefighters extinguished the blaze within a few minutes of arriving, according to the Granby Police Department.
The fire, investigated by the Granby fire and police departments along with the Massachusetts Office of the State Fire Marshal, was ruled accidental and attributed to discarded painting materials, according to Anderson.
"It was a hot, fast-moving fire," Anderson said. "This story could have had a very different ending had he not been there when he was and called when he did."
