West Bridgewater home uninhabitable after fire rips through

WEST BRIDGEWATER — A home is uninhabitable after a multiple-alarm fire tore through the two-story building, causing a roof collapse.

The West Bridgewater Fire Department responded to 35 E. Center St. (Route 106) at about 5:20 p.m. Wednesday for a report of a house fire.

Firefighters were met by active fire and additional help was immediately summoned to the scene.

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"It was already well-involved when we got here," Fire Chief Kenneth May said at the scene Wednesday night.

A second alarm was struck less than 10 minutes after the fire was reported, bringing help from the East Bridgewater, Bridgewater, Easton, Whitman, Halifax and Raynham fire departments. A Hanson fire engine covered the fire station in town during the incident.

Heavy fire shot through the roof of the home during the incident and firefighters were ordered out of the house early on in their efforts of extinguishing the fire due to fear of a roof collapse. Part of the roof did eventually cave in.

A firefighter who was injured fighting the fire was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with minor injuries, May said.

The residents, who were home when the fire broke out, were able to safely escape. Some pets died in the fire, although it wasn't immediately clear how many or what types.

"If this was in the nighttime, when everybody's sleeping, it would've been a whole different story," May said.

The residents of the home are displaced and will receive assistance from the Red Cross. The fire department said two families of four and another single individual were impacted by the fire.

The Red Cross tweeted a team was responding to provide comfort, financial assistance and long-term recovery services.

Crews remained on scene for several hours, into late Wednesday night.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the state fire marshal's office and West Bridgewater firefighters.

Senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @cshepard_ENT.

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