Westport
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EverythingWestport.com
Thursday,
May 02, 2013
photos/EverythingWestport.com except as noted
Quick
Article Index . . .
Half million dollar blaze
leaves Meadowbrook Lane family homeless.
Artisans May, Allen, and Forman at Dedee Shattuck
Gallery.
|
Half million dollar blaze
leaves Meadowbrook Lane family homeless. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday,
May 1, 2013 Photos/EverythingWestport.com except as noted
Westport Fire
Chief Brian Legendre was the first department member on the scene, arriving
less than a minute after the initial call came into the station. Inset: Josh Ferreira photo. “The house was
fully involved,” Legendre said. “I thought the structure had vinyl siding;
all the exterior surfaces were in flames.” Firefighters had little
chance to save the structure, especially with the lack of water hydrants in
the area. Chief Legendre
estimated the total loss of the two-story colonial at 20 Meadowbrook Lane, with
all the family's possessions, was in the range of $500,000, a total loss. The house is
owned by Ana and Robert Habib. The fire was through
the roof by 3 p.m. as firefighters arrived minutes before in the neighborhood
of single-family, executive homes just northwest of Central Village, off
Charlotte White Road. “Luckily, no one
was injured,” Legendre said. “Only the mother was home at the time. It
appears the fire started outside the southeastern exterior of the house, on a
raised deck.”
Above: Josh Ferreira
photo. Fire
investigators were on the scene yesterday afternoon and early this morning. A neighbor
reported hearing an explosion just before the house flared up; firefighters
suspect an outdoor grill’s propane tank may be involved. “The property is
owned by the Habib family, whose three children are
in their late teens or early 20s,” firefighter Lt. Dan Baldwin said. The Red Cross is
providing two nights of hotel shelter for the five family members, along with
funds for food, clothing and comfort kits for the family. According to
Ashley Studley, communications manager at the Red
Cross of Eastern Massachusetts, three Red Cross volunteers arrived at the 20
Meadowbrook Lane home to provide toiletries and sweatshirts, as well as money
for lodging, food and clothing. More than two
dozen Westport firefighters were joined by others from the Rhode Island towns
of Little Compton, Tiverton, Middletown, and Dartmouth, MA. “About 40
firefighters were at the scene,” Baldwin said.
Above: Westport Fire
Chief Brian Legendre (left) and Lt. Brian Beaulieu believe the fire started at
the southeast corner of an upper outside deck. Photo/EverythingWestport.com He said the
combination of the structure being fully engulfed upon arrival and the lack
of fire hydrants made it impossible to fight more than a defensive fire from
outside the house. The fire
departments’ pumpers were portaging water from Tiverton, Baldwin said. The
Tiverton Fire Department had set up a pumping station, allowing the tankers to
quickly refill before returning to the fire. “Four pumpers
were putting 1000 gallons of water per minute on the fire,” Lt. Dan Ledoux said. One of our tankers holds 4000 gallons. The
four trucks made four trips to the Tiverton pumping station,” Ledoux said. The fire was
extinguished within an hour and a half of the fire department’s arrival,
according to Legendre.
Left: It is believed that the fire
started at this corner of the house. A neighbor reported hearing an explosion
before the fire department arrived. Right: the fire destroyed the
house and all possessions, including a vehicle in the drive-under garage. Photos/EverythingWestport.com
Above: Josh Ferreira
photos.
Photo/EverythingWestport.com Artisans May, Allen, and Forman at Dedee Shattuck
Gallery. EverythingWestport.com Friday, May 03,
2013 Click here for a YouTube video tour of Dedee Shattuck
Gallery’s current exhibition featuring tripartite drawings of artisans Huguette May, Sandra Allen, and Zaria Forman. Click here for a high-resolution photo album of the exhibit. Need Adobe Flash to view album? Click here for
free download. Apple iPad and iPhone users, please view YouTube video above. Meet artisans Huguette
May, Sandra Allen, and Zaria Forman at Dedee Shattuck Gallery’s
new exhibition running from Wednesday, May 1st through Tuesday, May 28th;
artists' reception on Saturday May 4, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Dedee Shattuck
Gallery is pleased to present Huguette May, Sandra
Allen and Zaria Forman. This May 2013 show is a tri-partite drawing
exhibition of breathtaking proportions. Considerations of scale, detail and
close attention to form unite the work of these three artists, but the
variation in their choice of subject and individual rendering styles create
the characteristic dialogue of the exhibit as a whole. May is well known for her massive charcoal pencil drawings of knotted
ropes. In this exhibition, she uses the same medium to muse over the
intricacies of wasps' nests. Texture and form are brought into focus through
May's delicate and thorough exploration, inviting the viewer to pore over the
complexity of these structures that eludes the eye in every-day life. In
addition, we are privileged to exhibit some of May's latest works that
include experimentation with photography and collage.
Allen's focus is on natural elements including the bark
of trees. The show includes one of her super-sized drawings entitled Ballast.
Ballast is a high contrast vivification of a portion of a tree trunk. The
multiple levels of scale on which Allen is able to create intrigue are
staggering, and engage the viewer in a complex network of detail.
Forman's work is illustrative of her observations in
magnificent Greenland. She realizes atmosphere, ocean, land, and ice in terms
of pastel. Highlights of her drawings include the integration of the elements
effortlessly blending into one another and the emphasis on undulating forms
that border on abstraction.
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