Crime & Safety

Wenham Firefighters Assist at Two-Alarm House Fire

Wenham firefighters helped Beverly firefighters at a two-alarm house fire on Monday night, also bring specialized equipment to help refill breathing air bottles.

Wenham firefighters help battle a two-alarm fire at a Beverly home on Monday evening.

The fire on Corning Street, off Essex Street, was first discovered by an off-duty firefighter, who son said he smelled smoke just before 6 p.m. He told his dad - a firefighter - who then located the house fire and called police.

"As soon as he smelled it he recognized it was not someone burning wood in theri backyard," said Beverly Fire Deputy Chief Peter O'Connnor. 

Nobody was injured.

O'Connor said the off-duty firefighter requested that his name not be released. Ater locating the burning home, he also went to the door and knocked to try to get the attention of anyone inside. Nobody was home at the time of the fire.

Firefighters arrived to find the garage engulfed in flames. Some neighbors said they heard "pops" and explosions from the garage near the start of the fire. That was knocked down and firefighters moved inside, where they found heavy heat and smoke on the second floor.

"It got so hot up there they had to leave until they could ventilate," O'Connor said.

Most of the fire damage was to the garage and second floor and attic, O'Connor said.

"There was a tremendous amount of damage," O'Connor said. "It is not habitable right now."

While the fire was initially reported as a car fire near the home, O'Connor said there was no car in the garage and a van in the yard was damaged but not destroyed by the fire.

Firefighters were clear of the two-alarm fire at 9:04 p.m. In addition to the Beverly Fire Department, there were about 30 firefighters battling the fire, including firefighters from Danvers, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Salem and Wenham assisted at the fire. In addition to an engine, Wenham alos brought a special truck to refill firefighters' air bottles. Crews from Hamilton, Topsfield and Swampscott covered the city's fire stations during the fire.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from Hamilton-Wenham