Garage Fire Rekindled After Water Main Break

A fairly routine call for a garage fire in Walpole, Massachusetts, Friday morning turned into a much bigger mess for fire crews and neighbors.

"The buried hydrants was a big problem when we came in here, none of the hydrants in this particular area had been dug out," Walpole Fire Chief Timothy Bailey said.

But after firefighters dug out the hydrants they discovered an even bigger problem.

"We had a big issue with the water main, initially when we tied into the hydrant the water main let go and we had no water, so a little bit of a delay there but we used tank water and tied into the other engines that we had here," Chief Bailey said.

As firefighters were finally able to put out the flames, neighbors on Flamingo Circle and Pelican Drive began noticing yet another issue.

"Water started pouring through the ceiling and I panicked, rightfully so apparently," displaced homeowner Matt Brown said.

Officials say the broken water main was backing up into the complex's pipes and water was seeping into homes.

"I noticed on the right side in the kitchen there was puddles of water and I said what the heck's this?" said another displaced homeowner Charlie Dunn.

As crews continue to fix the broken water main, the crumbled road and the broken hydrant, some residents here have had to pack up as they were temporarily evacuated.

"Right where the bench is, it's saturated!" said Brown.

His dream catcher turned into a water catcher, Matt Brown and his wife decided it was best for them to leave.

"It's awful, it's just awful, we just came home from Denver yesterday and I had to go find my cats," Brown said.

Sampson and Cleo are safe and despite the mess, neighbors know this all could have been much worse.

"Thank God nobody was hurt, that's what counts," Dunn said.

According to the Walpole Fire Department, the blaze rekindled overnight into Saturday. No one was injured and crews continue to investigate the cause.

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