Dream home up in smoke
Literally. Here in the north shore town of Beverly, MA, a multimillion dollar mansion burned to the ground Thursday night into Friday morning. Thankfully the owners were away and no one was hurt. Why did this house burn completely? Not because of a lack of response from fire crews.
The house was in a secluded area off a private road in Beverly, and the nearest fire hydrant was an estimated 1200 feet away! The first fire truck arrived one minute after a 9-1-1 call was made by a neighbor. That’s fast. Trouble was, they had to run miles of hose, and the first responders didn’t have enough length of hose in their truck. Neighboring town Peabody sent a fire company with plenty of hose, but by then it was too late, and the crews just made sure that the fire did not spread. It consumed the house faster than they could string hoses up to fight it. Unfortunate, but avoidable. Something to think about if you are in the process of building your dream home. Privacy and views are wonderful, but ashes are not.
The fire inspector determined that the fire was caused by rags covered with paint solvent that spontaneously combusted. Below is a picture of the flames in action.
picture from wbz-tv.