Shed burns in Holden

HOLDEN – David Woods was using a wood stove to heat up the shed near his Route 1A house around 2 p.m. Thursday when the small wooden building caught fire.

“I heard a pop and I came out [of the house] and she was going,” he said while standing by the structure’s burned remains. “It could have been a lot worse if they [firefighters] hadn’t gotten here when they did.”

The shed contained a dirt bike, recently purchased for David Woods Jr., two air compressors, an outboard motor, a saw and other tools, all of which were destroyed in the blaze. A snowmobile parked near the structure also was demolished.

Siding on the house, located beside the Holden Hollow Primitives shop, was melted and firefighters had to enter the attic to deal with a hot spot, Capt. Ryan Davis of Holden Fire Department said just before 3 p.m.

The stove is believed to be the cause of the fire, both Woods and Davis indicated. Davis said fire investigators were called to the scene.

Fire crews from Holden, Dedham and Eddington responded to the alarm. Holden police officers directed traffic.

After the flames were extinguished, fire crews used thermal-imaging equipment, which displayed the hot stove as a white object on the instrument’s screen.

Woods said he was heating the shed so that he and his son could work on the dirt bike, which needed a new tire.