ASHFORD, Conn. — A fire Friday destroyed a portion of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for ill children in Connecticut including a large building designed to look like a town from the Old West.
No one was injured in the fire which started around 5 p.m., said Jimmy Canton, the chief executive of the camp.
“Although the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, what is known is that The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp is a community devoted to hope and healing,” Canton said in a statement. “We will get through this in the way that we always have and always will — as a family.”
The fire destroyed buildings housing the camp’s store, arts and crafts, woodshop and cooking programs. One of the two buildings was a large structure designed to look like a town from the old west. Different sections were built to look like separate buildings, where the different programs operated.
It took about 90 minutes for firefighters from several area departments to put out the blaze.
“There was a heavy, heavy fire,” said Tom Borgman, deputy chief of the Ashford Volunteer Fire Department. “That section of the structure was burning pretty hard and it was close to the dining hall. It was very hard work that saved that.”
Firefighters were also able to save the infirmary building.
The origin of the fire is being investigated by federal, state and local authorities.
Newman founded the camp in 1988 in the woods in eastern Connecticut with a Western motif inspired by his movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”
The camp offers experiences adapted to children with serious physical and medical limitations. Its traditional summer camp was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The charity is funded partly by the sales of “Newman’s Own” brand products.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
