House Fire at 5 Pleasant St
5/26/2009
At 1415 on 26 May, the Beverly Fire Department received a report of a building fire at 5 Pleasant St. Captain James Maggiacomo was the first to arrive on scene finding heavy fire blowing out of the front corner of a two and one half story brick and wood building. Residents reported that all occupants were out of the building, but there were two cats inside. Maggiacomo ordered a second alarm starting Engine 3, a Salem Engine and a Wenham Engine to the scene.
Engine 1 arrived and stretched a hose line through the front door to a set of stairs where they encountered heavy fire and heat conditions. Firefighter Steve Grant and Lieutenant Russell Halloran on the line immediately hit the heavy volume of fire overhead and began to advance up the stairs where they encountered a room fully involved in fire. While Grant and Halloran worked inside knocking down the heavy fire, Lieutenant Eric Fowler and Firefighter Brian Mahan climbed Ladder 1 to the roof of the structure and cut holes to ventilate tremendous amounts of heat and smoke that were building up in the concealed attic areas.
Additional crews from Engine 3 and Salem assisted inside digging out hidden fire above the ceiling and behind walls. Stubborn hidden fires were hidden in small hard to get at areas left behind by different structural elements of the building including a small dormer in the front of the home.
“These guys made a great stop”, said Chief Richard Pierce, “the first firefighters in really took a beating but knocked down a significant amount of fire in a very short time preventing the fire from extending throughout the second floor and into nearby exposure buildings” he continued.
The bulk of the fire damage was sustained on the second floor apartment but the entire building was left uninhabitable. Firefighters had National Grid respond to the scene to disconnect electrical utilities. Two second floor occupants were transported to Beverly Hospital for smoke inhalation, the two remaining occupants stated that they would be staying with friends and family. One of the cats was found deceased in the apartment on the second floor, a second was seen fleeing the scene safely outdoors.
According to records, the home was built in the 1930’s and has a value of roughly $303,000. Damage is estimated at roughly $100,000.
Lieutenant Halloran suffered a minor hand injury but remained on duty.
Pleasant Street and the portion of Cabot Street in that area were blocked by fire apparatus throughout the incident.
The fire is currently under investigation by Beverly Fire Department fire investigators who remain on scene with a Beverly Engine.
Manchester, Hamilton and Peabody covered Beverly stations throughout the incident while Wenham Engine 4 responded to the scene of the fire as a Rapid Intervention Team and Roger Baker responded to the scene to provide firefighters with fresh water.
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