SERVPRO of Newton / Wellesley To The Scene

2/20/2018 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of NEWTON/WELLESLEY was on scene to assist SERVPRO of FRAMINGHAM, our sister franchise, with a fire that was spotted in the early morning hours by a neighbor. No one was injured. The original newspaper article from the Metro West Daily News is below.

ASHLAND — Fire officials say they are grateful for a man walking his dog early Monday morning who spotted flames on a second-floor porch of a Tilton Avenue home, then banged on the building to wake up residents in two apartments.

Doug Duval said he was walking his miniature pinscher Ruby around 5 a.m. when he saw the fire at 25-27 Tilton Ave. It was dark outside and the Christmas lights looked strange, he said.

"When I got a little closer I could see it was fire," he said. "There were 10-foot flames shooting up the wall."

He tied Ruby to a fence on the property and jumped into action.

"I started banging on the side of the house yelling, 'fire, fire, fire!'" he said. "I woke the whole neighborhood."

A neighbor called 911 as the two apartments were quickly evacuated. The first floor homeowner and a neighbor got a fire extinguisher out of the garage to fight the flames, Duval said.

The Ashland Fire Department arrived to finish the job. Nobody was injured in the home and the fire was contained to the porch, according to fire Lt. David Iarussi. The neighbor who helped douse the flames was taken to MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham for a smoke-related evaluation.

Iarussi said the state fire marshal's office determined the cause to be careless disposal of a cigarette.

"The fire would have been much worse if it spread inside the house and the fire alarm went off," he said. "We wouldn't have known until the fire alarm went off."

Fire Chief Scott Boothby said it was a "good catch" by Duval, and the fire was mostly out within 15 minutes.

"Luckily, someone was walking by at the time," he said. "It wouldn't have taken too much more. A few more minutes it would have extended into the house and attic. It was just starting to burn the roof of the porch."

He said a Hopkinton engine and Framingham ambulance responded to the scene for mutual aid. Sherborn firefighters covered the Cedar Street Station.

The first-floor homeowners were allowed to return, while the second-floor tenants were temporarily displaced until a company could clean up, Boothby said.

He said a similar situation happened on Trailside Way a couple of months ago when a person walking by reported a fire. That fire also was determined to be caused by a cigarette, he said.

He encouraged residents to make sure smoking materials are put out properly.