No Injuries Reported in Friday Morning Three-Alarm Fire
The entire front of an old home caught fire early this morning.
Winchester firefighters battled the flames three-alarm fire at 2 Copley Street this morning. Initial calls came in a 5:19 a.m. Neighbors claim to have heard shouting and drivers hitting their car horns to draw attention to the fire while the response teams where on their way.
“There was a heavy volume of flames in the front of the house on the first two floors,” Winchester Fire Chief John Nash said. “No one was injured, the man and his two daughters self evacuated.”
Trucks from Stoneham, Woburn, Winchester and Arlington responded to the call.
Firefighters battled the blaze for an hour and a half before it was put down. “There was an aggressive interior fight which prevented damage to the new addition to the house. The part that burned is about 100 years old,” Nash said.
Neighbor Barbie Leslie said that around 5:30 Friday morning, “The whole front of the house was engulfed in flames. I heard someone lay on their horn and some shouting and I saw it out my window. I had never seen anything like before in my life.”
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
Lynch
9:27 pm on Friday, May 18, 2012
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. They are great people and I wish them well.
Suburbanmama
10:13 am on Sunday, May 20, 2012
Why did it take so long for the Fire Department to respond? A neighbor told me it was 20 minutes after the 911 call. Our town pays for 2 fire stations, high salaries, and shiny trucks so you'd think they could do better. My heart goes out to this family.
Bill D
8:49 pm on Sunday, May 20, 2012
it did not take them 20 min to respond thats bull. When people are freaking out time slows down. but who are you to bad mouth the FD when thats not true. Ask anyone there that day. The only reason they would be delayed is if they were at another call.
carol
8:53 am on Monday, May 21, 2012
Saw the house after the fire. Went in to the new section that they keep saying is ok. It looks like WWll in there. How anybody could even say it was remotely salvagable hasn't been inside. They were lucky to have escaped with their lives. They lost everything. Everything.
Steve Lonegan
4:35 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
Suburbanmama..You typical Winchester tree hugging snob. It took the 1st fire truck 6 minutes to get there from the time the 911 call was placed. Get your facts correct before you comment. Show some guts and leave your real name.
BAV
8:19 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
Steve - I figured that they'd come far quicker than 20 minutes. However, when you resort to ad hominem attacks, it reduces the effectiveness of your argument. In this case there was a tragedy and all involved did the best they could, especially the firefighters. This could have been so much worse.
Bill D
10:41 pm on Monday, May 21, 2012
I agree with Steve, its not fair for "suburbanmama" to falsely criticize the people who put their lives on the line fighting this fire. It obviously did not take 20 mins and I would like "suburbanmama" to explain why they posted a false fact on a public site to spread false views of this town FD.
Suburbanmama
10:09 pm on Tuesday, May 22, 2012
I'm sorry to be wrong and happy to hear that it did not take that long. My comment didn't say it was fact, but it was what I was told by a neighbor who called 911. I thought this person was reliable. It seemed shocking to me. But also I'm not sure how it is tree hugging snob to want to make sure the town gets what it pays for.