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Devastating blaze at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford caused extensive damage, but officials pledge to rebuild; cause remains unclear

ASHFORD — A devastating fire at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford late Friday reduced to rubble the workshops where children with serious illnesses would spend summer days baking cookies and carving small race cars from wood.

But seeing the damage Saturday — the charred wood beams and piles of twisted tin roofing — camp officials expressed relief that firefighters managed to contain the blaze before it spread to the dining hall and infirmary, which both house works of art that house much of the camp’s 32-year history.

They also pledged to rebuild the destroyed “Downtown Camp,” a wood-framed building styled like a miniature, Old West city block — an homage to camp founder Paul Newman’s film classic “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.