Above: Firefighters put out a fire at this home on Framingham Road yesterday. (image cropped from Facebook)
Yesterday afternoon, the Southborough Fire Department responded to a house on fire. According to Metrowest Daily News’ coverage firefighters knocked down the blaze in about 30 minutes. A firefighter who suffered a minor injury has been treated and released:
The Southborough firefighter was taken to an area hospital to be treated for a minor hand injury he suffered fighting the blaze at 32 Framingham Road, Fire Chief Steven Achilles said. The firefighter was treated and released.
A post from the SFD on Facebook last night states the home is currently uninhabitable:
Late Afternoon House Fire. Engine 23 and Ambulance 29 responded to a reported fire on Framingham Road today. On arrival smoke was showing and upon entry of the initial crews heavy fire was visible from the side and back of the house. The fire was brought under control through the hard work of on and off-duty Southborough Firefighters, along with crews from Westborough, Ashland, and Marlborough. One firefighter sustained a minor hand injury. The residents escaped without injury. Unfortunately, the home is uninhabitable. Framingham Fire provided station coverage.
MWDN provided more details:
A resident of the home called 911 and reported the fire at 3:30 p.m., the chief said. Firefighters arrived within six minutes and found heavy smoke coming from the building. The residents had made it out of the house uninjured.
“The crew made an initial attack and found heavy fire in the living room and toward the rear of the house,” said [Fire Chief Steven Achilles]. “As they made entry, a window failed and flames started shooting out of a back window. It was touch and go if we were going to fight the fire from inside or pull out and make an exterior attack, but the crew did a solid job of getting in there and getting a hit on the fire..”
You can read the full story here.
An email from Achilles last night updates that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Updated (2/17/20 10:15 am): Town officials have reached out to the residents of the home to let them know that there is immediate assistance available if needed through the Emergency Fund. They are also trying to find out if there is further support the family needs. If there is a way the community can help, someone will let me know and I will share the news.
Updated (2/18/20 8:30 am): Last night, Selectman Lisa Braccio shared a statement that she posted on Facebook about supporting the family:
I had the opportunity to speak to the Family that lost their home to the fire yesterday. They are overwhelmed at the level of support that they have been shown and wanted us to share their thanks to the Community. The Southborough Emergency Fund has supplied the family with some initial assistance. We shared with them all of the offers to help, from all of you that have reached out to me and posted on [a Facebook group] and other pages. They want to take the next day or two and think about what their needs will be and how we as a Community can best help them through this horrible loss. Once we know their needs, Chelsea Allan Malinowski and I will be updating all of you and sharing thoughts on some type of Fundraising opportunities. We will be updating this page and mysouthborough.com will also be posting the updates on how we can help. Thank you all again.
Once there is information on how the community is able to support the family, I will post a new story plus an update here.
