What to Know
- A couple driving by the Salisbury Harbormaster's house on Saturday noticed a fire in the garage.
- The Harbormaster and his wife and daughter all escaped the house before it caught fire.
- Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames without any injuries.
The childhood home of the Salisbury, Massachusetts, harbormaster went up in flames on Saturday.
According to Wendy Pike, she was in the house on Second Street with her husband, Ray, who is the harbormaster, and her daughter when the fire began.
She says a couple driving by saw that the three-car garage was on fire and stopped to tell the homeowners.
"We were just sitting in the house, and somebody was like, 'Your garage is on fire,'" Pike said.
The family was able to retrieve some shoes, phones, important papers and photo albums from inside of the home and get out before the fire spread.
Scott Carrigan, the Salisbury Fire Chief, says they received a report of a garage fire that had extended to the house.
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The house is situated in a congested neighborhood full of older homes, Carrigan said.
The fire took a while to extinguish.
"They had quite a situation when they got here. Once it extended into the house, it was very difficult for them to locate fire in hidden spaces," Carrigan said.
But no one was injured in the incident.
According to Pike, they use the garage as a workshop and it has a wood stove. She believes it was the stove that caused the fire.
Pike also says her husband, Ray, had a special connection to the house.
"He grew up in this house, so a lot of memories for him. So, it's going to be tough," she said.
Demolition crews tore down the garage Saturday afternoon as they began the cleanup.
Pike says they have another house on the street, so they have a place to stay until they figure out what to do next. They say they might be able to gut the house and rebuild it from the inside out.
For now, Pike says she is thankful to the couple who first noticed the fire.
