Swampscott man dead in blaze

SWAMPSCOTT – A well-known local contractor is dead after a two-alarm fire broke out at his home just before 1 p.m. Thursday.Philip Kenneally, 61, was found in the basement of 77 Plymouth Ave., according to police. Paramedics on scene tried unsuccessfully to revive him before transporting him to Salem Hospital.Fire Chief Richard Carmody said the department received a call for heavy smoke at the address and upon arrival found two cars parked in the driveway, which led firefighters to believe someone was inside the home.”Upon our arrival the home was filled with thick black smoke,” Carmody said. “You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. We immediately started a search. The smoke was so thick and black a couple of our guys ran out of air during the search.”Swampscott Police Officer Michael Serino, who was one of the first on scene, said the smoke presented major problems.”When we broke down the front door you could not even get in the house because the smoke was so heavy,” Serino said. “We went around to the back door and went in that way. The smoke was so heavy you could only see about a foot in front of you. Even using my flashlight was no help at all.”Carmody said the thick black smoke hampered the search effort.”You couldn’t see anything,” he said. “Thank God for thermal imaging cameras. We brought (Kenneally) out and paramedics tried working on him.”Carmody said Kenneally was found in the basement and he believes that is where the fire originated.”It’s still under investigation but it appears to have started in the basement,” he said. “The fire had made a lot of headway before we were even called.”All of the windows were smashed out of the blue, one-family, two-story home and fire crews cut through the roof.Neighbors said Kenneally was hard of hearing and speculated he may not have heard smoke alarm warnings.David Levitan had just arrived at girlfriend Ruth Long’s home Thursday afternoon when he saw smoke coming from Kenneally’s house. Long and Levitan banged on Kenneally’s door before calling 911.”We started yelling and heard all the smoke alarms,” Long said.She described Kenneally as a pleasant man with a sense of humor who took time to care for Long and her mother, Heather.He undertook small carpentry jobs for the Longs and did other chores. Ruth Long last saw Kenneally two weeks ago when he brought over a couple of DVDs for them to watch.”He would look out for us. Everyone knows him around the neighborhood,” she said.According to another neighbor Kenneally was well-liked in town, lived alone and is a skilled carpenter.Emergency crews from Marblehead, Salem and Lynn and state police also were also on scene.