BROCKTON, Mass. — Firefighters responding to a house fire on Hillcrest Avenue were forced to elevate the call to a three-alarm blaze as temperatures soared Saturday afternoon.
“This is typically a working fire for us, [or] maybe a second alarm,” Brockton Fire Deputy Chief Jeffrey Marchetti told Boston 25 News. “However, due the heat and the fatigue that can set in… we needed extra crews.”
A Heat Advisory was in effect Saturday afternoon for temperatures in the low 90s. High humidity made it feel even warmer.
EMS teams were on standby as firefighters worked to bring the flames under control, frequently handing out cold bottles of water and damp rags for crews to drape across the back of their necks. Several firefighters were evaluated at the scene for heat-related issues.
Joshua Yelapi could only watch as teams worked in the heat to save what they could of his childhood home.
“It’s devastating,” Yelapi said. “Forty years of memories are gone.”
His mother was with her grandchildren in the backyard when the fire broke out.
“She was in the pool with the grandkids and my father was in the shower,” Yelapi said. “She saw the porch on the other side of the house on fire, and she started screaming. Fortunately everybody made it out safely.”
Firefighters are investigating the cause of the blaze.
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