In Hingham, a home collapsed, an abutting home was extensively damaged, and nearby homes were burned after a four-alarm fire.
Fire Chief Steve Murphy says multiple 9-1-1 calls reported the fire. A babysitter, child, and painter were at 4 Mann Street when the blaze started.
“They were extremely lucky. The child told the police officer that he and the nanny immediately tried to make their way out of the house,” said Murphy. “Then he remembered the painter was on the second floor. Ran back inside, alerted the painter, the painter was able to successfully get out. By the time the painter got down to the first floor, it was fully involved.”
Murphy said there were no injuries at the scene.
Wind, and water access at the top of the Crow Point neighborhood made fighting the fire difficult.
“Which was a concern for spreading embers, and the heat spreading to the other buildings. We also had an issue with water supply, being up on top of the hill here, with a limited amount of water pressure and everything else,” said Murphy. “Those are some of the challenges that we have. We are investigating the cause, we have called in the state [fire marshal’s office] to assist us with that. But we do not have a determination of it yet. Frankly, with the amount of damage to this, we may not actually be able to find anything unless we get additional reports from witnesses.”
Embers from the fire spread to nearby homes, speaking shingles, and shrubbery. The abutting home at 2 Mann Street was extensively damaged. Mutual aid included Hull, Cohasset, Norwell, Scituate, Rockland, Weymouth, Quincy, Braintree, and Hanover. Abington provided station coverage in Hingham.
He says nine communities responded to the fire, with over 125 firefighters on scene.
Murphy says this was the biggest fire in town in the last four years.
WATD reporter Gill Johnston contributed to this report.
Two families were displaced after a fire led to the collapse of a home, and spread to another home on Mann Street. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
The fire spread to nearby homes, with embers catching shingles and shrubbery. Photo credit: Lenny Rowe.
