A young family had just moved into a gorgeous home in Hingham, Massachusetts, making the $3.2 million dollar home their own — but now there’s nothing left but a brick chimney.
Neighbor Chris Moran told WCVB-TV that the nice young couple and their boy had just moved in and had almost finished renovating the 6,000-square-foot home when disaster struck.
On Monday around lunchtime, the young boy noticed a fire had started and quickly alerted his nanny. He also had the wherewithal to recall that a painter was currently working upstairs and rushed to warn him, too.
Thanks to the boy’s quick actions, no one died in the massive blaze that quickly took off.
Wow! Multi-million dollar home in Hingham engulfed in flames. Fire chief tells us the young boy who lives here was home at the time with his nanny and a painter working upstairs. Luckily they all made it out safely!
Details at 5 & 6 @boston25Video: Dawn Martel pic.twitter.com/uqptHhNjwa
— Litsa Pappas (@LitsaPappas) July 11, 2022
Around 120 firefighters responded from Hingham, Cohasset, Hull, Norwell, Scituate, Rockland, Braintree, Weymouth, Quincy and Hanover to battle the four-alarm fire, according to The Hingham Anchor.
The conditions were brutal, with high winds whipping the flames into a frenzy and sending embers and flames in the direction of the surrounding homes.
“Everything is so close together around here and it’s so dry that if the wind changes directions, like this house could go, and that house could go, my house could go,” Moran said, according to WCVB-TV. “The whole block could have burned down.”
A child alerted his nanny the fire started on the porch. While escaping, Hingham’s fire chief says the boy told police a painter was working upstairs. They’re “extremely lucky” to have gotten out alive.
There were only 11 @HinghamFire on today. Mutual aid was critical. #wbz pic.twitter.com/OhIGHMfIyp
— Tiffany Chan (@TiffanyChanWBZ) July 11, 2022
Crews with fire hoses and neighbors with garden hoses worked to keep their homes watered down to try to prevent spread. Despite their best efforts, multiple close homes sustained external fire damage, and two had internal damage as well.
To complicate matters, the house was at the top of a hill, making it difficult to bring enough water to the fire in the first place.
By 3:00 p.m., all that remained of the monumental home was smoking rubble and a charred brick chimney.
“It became very apparent that the main body was going to be a complete loss,” Hingham Fire Chief Steve Murphy admitted. “So, we wanted to prevent spread to the other buildings around here.”
While the cause of the fire is being investigated, authorities are saying it appeared to have started on the porch. It’s a mercy the young boy noticed it when he did, or he and the others could have been trapped in the fire that quickly got out of hand.
“The windy conditions and size of the home made this a difficult fire to extinguish,” Murphy said, The Hingham Anchor reported.
“I am glad that no one was hurt, and our hearts go out to the family that lost their home. I’d like to thank our mutual aid partners from neighboring departments who helped us extinguish the fire and prevent further property damage to other homes in the area.”
