The Quincy Fire Department battled winds and icy conditions during a three-alarm fire at a home at 85 Safford Street.
Deputy Fire Chief Gary Smyth says the two residents at the home were able to get out safely, there were no other injuries reported. Crews were in the home for about 15 minutes before they had to evacuate due to heavy fire conditions.
“We have to be careful with ventilation on a day like today. You break windows on the wrong side or do something like that, it creates a wind tunnel, just adding fuel to the fire,” said Smyth. “That’s partly what happened, we had some windows blown out by the fire inside, it increased the intensity of the fire, to a point that the entire first floor was going. We had to pull companies out, got them out in time, thank God.”
The fire was limited to just one building in the densely-packed residential neighborhood. Six engines, three ladders, a rescue, EMS, and more units responded to the scene.
Firefighters were on the roof, using chainsaws to cut holes. Some pockets of fire were difficult to reach due to the layout of the building. A line was dragged up a Quincy ladder truck to extinguish parts of the blaze.
“It’s a balloon-frame construction, which is like most of the houses in our city and around the Commonwealth,” said Smyth.
“There’s no fire stoppage, so once it gets in the walls it goes up.”
Smyth says they were able to prevent the fire from reaching the attic.
“The guys did a great job, of course the conditions here – it got wet so it got icy quick,” said Smyth. “Right now, we have no reported injuries of firefighters. Overall, things went well.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Very active scene at a three-alarm fire at 85 Safford St. in Quincy @959watdfm pic.twitter.com/eGoNpcjTl6
— Lenny Rowe (@LennyRoweWATD) March 2, 2021
Firefighters surveyed the damage at the home at 85 Safford Street in Quincy. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
