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Imagine peering through a camera lens and seeing your garage that’s filled with a dozen vintage motorcycles as well as a 1989 Porsche 911 just feetaway from being engulfed by flames. There’s nothing you can do. Just watch and hope that firefighters are able to contain the blaze. The picture above is what motorcycle collector Mike Wallace of Torrington, CT snapped yesterday when a warehouse filled with tires was destroyed by a massive fire.
Wallace’s property backs to the land where the warehouse was located. The garage, seen in the above picture behind the left tree, is only inches from a retaining wall that separates his property and the warehouse. The closer-in picture below shows just how close the warehouse was to the property line at the right rear.
Photo by Mike Wallace
Fortunately, the firefighters did an incredible job. More than 100 firefighters from northwestern Connecticut and beyond fought the blaze for 13 hours, with members of the Waterbury and Winsted departments staking out Wallace’s backyard, putting water on the fire and periodically wetting down his garage.
No bikes were lost or damaged. “They did a great job,” said Wallace on Friday, grading the firefighters “A+” for their efforts.
The total value of the bikes and the car tops $65,000. While Wallace owns more than 40 motorcycles, only a dozen were in the garage.
Among them were a 1976 BMW R 60/6, a 1983 Suzuki GS1100ES, a 1976 (or 1978) Suzuki GT380, a 1984 Kawasaki Ninja 900, a 1979 Honda CBX, a 1993 Ducati 907IE, a 1976 Suzuki GT550, a 1974 Kawasaki H1, a 1983 Kawasaki GPZ750 and a 1965 Honda Dream 305. Also in the garage was a modern 2003 BMW F 650 GS Dakar.
To lose them would be heart-breaking and tragic and to replace them would be time-consuming, Wallace said. It’s a situation he won’t have to face, and he has the pictures to prove just how fortunate he was to have a portion of his collection protected.
– Bud Wilkinson
