Published in the May 25, 2017 edition
The North Reading Fire Department responded to a house fire on Audubon Road Saturday morning. The cause of the fire remains under investigation and was not deemed suspicious at this time. (Courtesy Photo/Ken Robishaw)
By BILL LAFORME
NORTH READING – The cause of last weekend’s fire at 23 Audubon Road remains under investigation, Chief Bill Warnock told the Transcript this week, although it is not believed to be suspicious.
Warnock reported that firefighters spent about nine hours at the scene of the fire on Saturday, followed by another several hours on Sunday after hotspots caused the structure to re-ignite. The fire largely destroyed the house and the flames even caused heat damage to four or five neighboring homes – mostly melted portions of vinyl siding, added the chief.
Nobody was injured in the fire, and one of two dogs in the home was apparently rescued when a neighbor was able to kick in the door before fire personnel arrived.
Initial media reports had also cited the possibility of explosions at the scene. However, Warnock said that this was not the case, and that if anything, the sounds could have just come from some bursting aerosol cans.
Warnock praised the fire department for “doing a great job as usual at protecting the citizens,” and noted that the crew on duty at the time had been out on another call, with Captain Rick Nash, Deputy Chief Barry Galvin, Firefighter Herb Batchelder and Call Firefighter Jeff Strong reportedly arriving on scene first. Mutual aid was reportedly provided by Wilmington, Reading, Middleton, Lynnfield and Wakefield.
