GROVELAND — Chief Robert Valentine reports that the Groveland Fire Department responded to a stubborn four alarm house fire on Saturday night.
At 10:35 p.m. the Groveland Fire Department was dispatched to 25 Broad Street following a 911 call from a neighbor who had heard an explosion at the address, saw a fire start, and then ran next door and inside the house to wake the residents.
The home, a large residence constructed in the 1850s with multiple additions, made the large blaze more difficult to knockdown. Multiple ladder trucks and engines were at the scene as part of the firefighting effort.
Firefighters had the fire under control by 12:20 a.m. Sunday morning, and cleared the scene at 4:46 a.m. Two firefighters were taken to the hospital suffering from heat exhaustion and were treated and released.
The West Newbury, Newbury, Newburyport, Amesbury, Merrimac, Haverhill, Georgetown, North Andover, Lawrence, Newton (New Hampshire), and Topsfield fire departments provided mutual aid and station coverage during the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit of the Massachusetts Fire Marshal’s office and Chief Larry Fisher from the Merrimac Fire Department.
“Because of the additions to the home and the voids in the way the residence was constructed, it was difficult to get to the fire,” said Groveland Fire Chief Robert Valentine. “The teamwork and mutual aid system worked perfectly in getting this blaze knocked down, and everyone did an outstanding job.”
###