(NECN: Kristen Carosa) - A Leicester, Mass. family is relieved to be safe and alive after a fire hit their home. Firefighters were able to prevent the flames that started in the garage from engulfing their entire home.
Ben Kinney called authorities late Wednesday night after an alarm woke up him up. A fire had started in an apartment above their garage. Kinney was able to get his wife and two children outside right away.
“I saw the fire. It was in the bathroom. I tried to put it out. I just couldn't. It was too much,” said Kinney.
More than 40 firefighters from five towns put the fire out, but getting water to the home wasn't easy. There were no nearby hydrants.
“We had to create a water dump site at the end of the street. Tankers dumped water there and we pumped it up from there,” said Fire Chief Robert Wilson.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the garage and upstairs apartment. That section will have to be knocked down, but the other half of the house can be saved.
Chief Robert Wilson says firefighters did a good job despite the frigid weather.
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The fire's cause appears accidental, but the investigation is ongoing.
Chief Wilson says Kinney and his family are safe because they had working smoke alarms. “A lot of times we go to calls and the smoke alarms aren't going off. Either someone hasn't changed the battery or they have taken them down because they are annoying. Well in this instance they saved their lives.”
