WINTHROP, Mass. — Two homes were deemed a total loss, and no injuries were reported after fire crews battled a fourth-alarm fire in Winthrop.
According to Winthrop Fire Chief Stephen Calandra, the incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. when crews responded to the area of 157 River Road to reports of fire. Once on scene, fire crews found heavy flames emitting from two homes.
Noah Valyes was driving down Shirley Street when he saw the smoke in the air.
"It was bad. The smoke was going all throughout town," Valyes said. “When I turned onto the street, I couldn’t even see.”
Fire crews began attacking the fire, but due to the heavy flames, a fourth-alarm was eventually struck, requesting mutual aid from different towns, including Chelsea, Revere, Lynn, Boston, Somerville, Everett, Saugus, Malden, Medford, and Massport.
"My firefighters, they rose to the occasion," Chief Calandra said. “They did a great job. We had excellent help from all our mutual aid partners.”
Chief Calandra also revealed that off-duty firefighters helped out crews during the fire. Video shows one of those who helped.
“I wouldn’t let citizens help us, but they were off-duty firefighters who used to work with us,” Calandra said.
As a result of the fire, the two homes were deemed a total loss, and four families were displaced.
Two people were transported to the hospital, one of which being a pregnant woman, for evaluation.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but fire officials believe it was caused by an electric car in the driveway that went up in flames.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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