Three-story fire triggers seven-town response
Mar. 9—BEVERLY — High winds, difficulty shutting off natural gas lines, a tight one-way street added to challenges firefighters faced in battling a three-alarm fire on Swan Street Tuesday afternoon.
No injuries were reported in a blaze first reported at 1:51 p.m. Tuesday. The fire heavily damaged a house at 9 Swan St., a 2.5-story wood-frame home occupied by a single resident and dog home at the time. The resident and pet were safely out of the home when firefighters arrived on the scene.
But by the time firefighters' hoses were charged and water began hitting the flames, the fire had already moved from the back of the home to the front and had spread to every floor, according to fire Chief Peter O'Connor.
"By the time we were ready to attack it, the fire was already consuming three floors, from back to front, basically," O'Connor said. "So we had to withdraw and perform a defensive attack. ... The conditions inside were way too dangerous. The wind was blowing pretty good this afternoon, and the direction of the fire was pushing from the back of the house."
"It was fast," O'Connor said.
Firefighters' response on the one-way street was also slightly hampered by a number of vehicles, which clogged the street heading from Sohier Road. Several vehicles had to turn around and drive the wrong way on the street to clear the scene once firefighters had hoses blocked the way in front of the house. The traffic briefly delayed other fire trucks from arriving on the scene.
Popping noises were heard inside the home early in the blaze, and a loud explosion was felt throughout the area at about 2:15 p.m., prompting audible responses from firefighters outside the building.
The home was served by a natural gas line and firefighters had a hard time shutting the gas line off, according to O'Connor. The fire — particularly because of its size and speed — made getting access to the gas meter difficult.
"There was an event that took place, an awful lot like an explosion. We're still trying to figure out what happened," O'Connor said. "We don't believe it to be suspicious or anything like that. It was just a naturally occurring event at some of these fires, and we will take a look at a bunch of things that might have caused that to happen."
Firefighters from seven towns responded to the scene of the fire, which was immediately raised to a second alarm by the arrival of the first truck. Mutual aid was provided by fire departments from Peabody, Salem, Danvers, Hamilton, Topsfield and Wenham.
The overwhelming response from neighboring departments helped contain the blaze to a single structure, O'Connor said. A home next door — a yellow building at 11 Swan St., just a few feet away — sustained no damage in the blaze.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't work out the way we always want it to. We like to be aggressive and try to minimize (damage), but fortunately, we were able to at least keep the fire as contained to this one structure as we possibly can," O'Connor said. "It really came down to getting people on the ... ground as fast as we could, and getting lines in place so we can keep the fire as contained."
He said it could've been far worse if not for the fast response of those calling in: "Cabot, on the corner of Swan, receiving calls," a dispatcher can be heard repeatedly saying in the opening minutes of the blaze's scanner traffic as phones could be heard ringing off the hook in the background.
"We had a bunch of help. We needed a lot of people fast," O'Connor said. "When there's a fire in the house, get outside, and call 911."
Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
