Fire destroys home in Winthrop while owner is at Red Sox game, officials say
Fire officials say that a home went up in flames in Winthrop on Saturday as the owner was at a Red Sox game.
It happened around 7:30 p.m. on Trident Avenue. Firefighters initially were told that the resident might've been inside, but were later told he was not at home. There were no injuries reported, but two firefighters were examined for heat exhaustion, according to officials.
Fire Chief Scott Wiley said that the crew only had seven firefighters on duty at the time.
"Thanks to the quick and coordinated efforts of our Winthrop Fire crews and mutual aid partners, we were able to bring a dangerous fire under control before it could spread to neighboring homes," said Chief Wiley in a statement.
"So, I came out here and I couldn't see anything was filled with. It was filled with smoke, and then as the smoke began to clear, the fire was just raging. There was nothing left of that house," neighbor Michelle Rosner said.
Wiley said the home "has been deemed a total loss," and is expected to be demolished on Sunday morning.
"It's an old building, there's a lot of contents in this building, somewhat structurally compromised to begin with," Wiley said. "Now everything that was on the first floor is trapped underneath, and we can't get to the hotspots."
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Neighbors to homes after Winthrop fire
Neighboring homes only received mild structural damage from the flames. Wiley said the vinyl siding had melted off, and a car was damaged, but residents will be able to get back into their houses for the evening.
"Kudos to the Winthrop fire department for getting this under control as quickly as they did because they could've been really disastrous for the whole block," Rosner said.
"There's a big tree between my house and this house, so I really didn't know what was gonna happen," said nearby resident Paul Crowley.
"What we call on the beach streets here in Winthrop, where we're pretty close to each other, and it's really important that we have a fast response," said Winthrop town councilor John Doros.
"I think that just reinforces that we don't need more density in Winthrop," Rosner said.
