(Courtesy of Gloucester Daily
Times)
By JOHN ENOS and BARBARA TAORMINA
Times staff
A fire gutted a one-family home in Lanesville yesterday afternoon. Fire
officials have not yet determined the fire's cause.
Firefighters found heavy smoke and flames coming from the interior
of Ross Burton's house on Bianchini Road when they arrived shortly after
1 p.m. The house is on a dirt road, several hundred yards from Canney's
Quarry, known in the neighborhood as Bianchini's Pit.
Neighbors feared Burton was trapped inside, but he returned home during the firefighters' two-hour battle to knock down the flames. "No one was hurt and that's the most important thing," said Fire Chief Barry McKay as he stood in the front yard.
The tired crews in soaked gear continued to spray water into the house and ventilate it with large fans as they waited for a replacement crew to arrive. The temperature was below freezing.
The first call about the fire came at 12:44 p.m. from a man using a cell phone in Rockport. He was on T-Wharf when he saw smoke coming from what he thought was the Woodbury Street area. The crew of a pump truck located the Burton home at 1 and found fire had spread throughout the house. "The fire was fully involved when crews arrived on the scene," McKay said.
The pump truck quickly ran out of water and had to wait several minutes for other equipment and firefighters to arrive. There were also other concerns during the early moments of the fire. Initial reports warned firefighters that Burton, the homeowner, had a broken ankle and was walking with the help of crutches. It was not clear if he was inside the house."That's the kind of thing that brings your heart up into your mouth," said McKay.
However, Burton and his daughter, Kate, returned home from a shopping trip shortly after firefighters arrived on the scene. They stood several feet from their front door and watched as thick, white smoke poured from windows on both the first and second floors.
Meanwhile, firefighters wearing oxygen tanks and masks continued to fight the flames that spread through the walls of the second floor. They cut a hole in the roof and broke windows to release some of the heat, Deputy Chief Steven Aiello reported. Although one of the department's brass nozzles froze open, there was both adequate water and water pressure to fight the fire.
"There were no problems with the water, no trouble," said firefighter Lester Chick. "It went well."
The damage to the house was estimated at $150,000, Aiello reported.
State Trooper Patrick Silva responded after the department notified the state fire marshal's office. He and members of the local department conducted a three-hour investigation. They were unable to determine the cause of the blaze that appeared to have started in a first-floor bedroom, Aiello reported. The fire is not considered suspicious.
