DUXBURY, Mass. — A woman and her newborn baby are safe after evacuating their burning house, thanks to smoke detectors in the Duxbury home, firefighters said Monday.
In a dramatic 911 call, the mother pleads for help as she stands helplessly outside and watches smoke pour from the Temple Street home.
“There’s a (fire), and I have a brand new baby! I don’t know what to do,” she tells the dispatcher from outside. “I don’t want my house to burn down!”
The mother ran from the home with her 2-month-old daughter, sobbing and yelling to dispatcher Joe Crean, who took her call.
Crean, dispatch supervisor at Regional Old Colony Communications Center, asked her if everyone had evacuated and tried to calm her down.
“I’m the father of an 11-month-old. So I definitely understand how frantic something as serious as a house fire involving your child (is),” he said.
Damage from what investigators determined was an electrical fire was mostly contained to the upstairs bedroom where it started. But the loss could have been much worse if it weren't for the fire alarms, which Duxbury Fire Capt. Rob Reardon said were lifesavers.
“The woman was sleeping. Her baby was sleeping. She was awoken by the smoke alarm going off. She got her baby, she was able to exit the building, and that’s most important,” Reardon said.
Reardon also credited the Silent Call Procedure, which they used. Because the mother didn't have a good connection on her cordless phone as she walked away from her burning home, she couldn't immediately communicate what was happening. Dispatchers asked her to dial 1 for police, 2 for fire or 3 for an ambulance. Within seconds of dialing 2, an engine rolled out of the station.