SWAMPSCOTT — The three-alarm blaze that claimed the home at 50 Andrew Road and the life of a pet dog Thursday morning was deemed accidental and determined to have started at the stove, according to State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan.
Only one injury was reported: a Swampscott firefighter suffered a minor “hand injury,” according to Deputy Chief Jim Pots. The family’s pet rabbits were spared from the fire but their pet cat has yet to be found.
A statement by the Department of Fire Services said Thursday it cannot be determined whether the occupants left the stove on or if the dog turned it on while “counter surfing.” The family of six was not at home when next door neighbor Ronald Trapasso called 911 around 9 a.m. after seeing smoke and flames emitting from the home’s doors and windows.
Swampscott Fire Captain Kevin Thompson said when firefighters arrived, the flames were coming mostly from the back of the house, but as Nahant, Revere, Lynn, Salem, Beverly, Marblehead and Swampscott fire departments reported to the scene to assist, flames were shooting out the windows on three sides, and heavy smoke poured out blackened windows and doors.
Danielle Saponaro-Zaccaria stood watching the blaze from the safety of Paradise Road along with Ruth Leone. “It just breaks my heart,” said Saponaro-Zaccaria as flames shot through the roof of the house. “What do they have now – nothing, the clothes on their backs.”
With a high of 20 degrees around noon, the freezing temperatures played a major factor in fighting the fire. Icicles formed on the jackets of firefighters and on the ladders minutes after they were soaked by hoses though they were just a few feet from the flames, and firefighters frequently poured sand underneath the trucks to prevent ice from forming.
Pots said a hydrant on Paradise Road was deemed useless when it was found to be frozen, and a second hydrant had low water pressure, causing a delay of a few minutes around 10:30 a.m. when all firefighters were called out of the house. “We had problems right off the bat,” said Thompson. “You can’t predict which is frozen and which isn’t.”
The flames were extinguished around noon, and Thompson said Swampscott Fire left the scene with the house to be boarded up around 2:30 p.m. Officials closed Paradise, Andrew, Shaw and Thomas roads for about two hours during the fire.
View Fire in Swampscott 1/3/13 in a larger map
According to Patriot Properties, the home is owned by Peter and Laura Ghirardini and valued at $367,300. Damages to the home were estimated to be $250,000 to $300,000 after a joint investigation by the State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal and the Swampscott Fire Department with assistance from the Lynn Fire Department.
“The entire house is damaged,” said Thompson. “There’s large hole in roof, and a lot of areas inside the house are burned out. Those that weren’t burned out sustained a lot of water damage.”
American Red Cross spokeswoman Ashley Studley said volunteers responded to the scene, but the family declined assistance. Studley said it was unknown were the family was staying, but the volunteers left them with contact information just in case.
Neighbors identified the family as a husband and wife with four school-age children. The Swampscott Public School’s superintendent’s office reported yesterday that they were in the preliminary stages of a joint fund-raising venture with Town Hall for the family, and would release a statement with details as soon as possible.
Photographer Danielle Murr, who snapped and posted a photo of firefighters carrying the deceased dog out of the damaged home on the Swampscott Fire Fighters Union Local 1459’s Facebook page, wrote on the page, “I hesitated about whether to even post this photo I took, given the complete devastation caused by this fire in Swampscott this morning. But I was just so moved to see the care taken by the firefighters (and our beloved ACO’s!) as they removed the family dog from the house and formed a chain to transfer the dog from person to person down the stairs. Each move was so deliberate and careful, it broke my heart and made it swell at the same time. Thanks for all you do.”
Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].
