A Christmas morning fire destroyed a home in Braintree, Massachusetts, but the family was able to escape.
“My neighbor called us and said ‘is the Mitchell’s house on fire’,” Jim Hoey recalled. “I was vacuuming the rug and I looked over and see the flames coming out of the window over there.”
Jim Hoey said he was ready to run right in, thinking the family may have been asleep inside.
“I ran over, I was about to open the door, and they said ‘we’re already out, we’re already out’,” said Hoey.
A husband and wife have lived in the house for decades, and neighbors say their daughter and son-in-law had driven in from out-of-state for Christmas.
“They are great neighbors,” said Carol Hoey. “She just baked me a cake yesterday and brought it over for Christmas, that’s how they are, very thoughtful, they are very thoughtful, we love them.”
It was a difficult fire to fight with the location of the home below street level, as well as the stormy weather.
“The wind has played quite a pivotal role in trying to get this fire out,” said Chief James O’Brien with the Braintree Fire Department. “The pitch of the house is quite a bit below ground level, so all those factors played into us trying to get this fire out.”
Investigators are looking at a couple of possible causes for the fire.
“They have a propane gas fuel fireplace,” said O’Brien, who spoke with one of the homeowners. “She said that was shut off before she went to bed or it may be an overload of electronic equipment possibly.”
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The four people inside the home, along with a family dog, made it out but the home is a total loss.
“Christmas morning,” said Jim Hoey. “What a shame.”
One of the residents was taken to the hospital as a precaution but is expected to be fine.
