By Bradford L. Miner
Telegram & Gazette
SPENCER, Mass. — Firefighters contended with tricky footing from an overnight ice storm and manpower issues yesterday as they battled a five-alarm fire at a 2-1/2-story home at 19 Maple St.
Police listed those displaced by the fire as Rosalie Tracey, Ernest Chapman, Patrick Franks and Eric Tracey, who lived in the first-floor apartment, and John Rivers, the third-floor resident. The second-floor apartment was vacant.
All got out of the house safely without injuries. Fire Chief Robert P. Parsons said no firefighters were seriously injured, but several were treated at the site of the fire for exhaustion and smoke inhalation.
The five residents were being assisted by the American Red Cross and were staying in motels last night, police said. The Red Cross is also assisting them with future housing arrangements.
Chief Parsons said he had interviewed two of the people living in the first-floor apartment, and they said they had been heating cooking oil on the kitchen stove in preparation for making lunch and went to do something else.
"When the 13-year-old came back into the kitchen, the entire room was ablaze. They tried to extinguish the fire themselves, and when they couldn't, they called 911," the chief said.
Chief Parsons said the initial call at 11:51 a.m. reported a cooking fire in the first-floor apartment, but as he left the station, he could see smoke and knew the fire was worse than reported.
He said he arrived to find flames shooting out the windows of an addition at the back of the home where the kitchen was located, reaching quickly to the second floor.
Chief Parsons said the building inspector had ordered the back addition taken down to at least the first floor, and the owner of the building, William C. Farmer Jr., a contractor, said as soon as the firefighters left he would bring in an excavator and take down the charred remains, securing the rest of the building.
Mr. Farmer said he did not know the extent of damage to the interior and whether it could be salvaged.
Chief Parsons said the first engine company to arrive mounted an interior attack while the chief attempted to suppress the flames on the outside of the addition.
"When our ladder truck arrived, we vented the roof and immediately went to a third alarm because of manpower problems. For us, a third alarm brings East Brookfield, Leicester and Paxton directly to the scene," he said.
"Everyone had manpower problems today, so Holden, Rutland, Brookfield and Oakham were called. In a matter of minutes, flames were shooting through the roof, and very quickly we went to a fourth and then a fifth alarm to bring in sufficient manpower," the chief said.
The Spencer Rescue Squad and the Spencer Emergency Management Agency set up an operations base across the street in the parking lot of the J. Henri Morin & Son Funeral Home.
SEMA volunteers distributed food and beverages to firefighters as crews were rotated throughout the early afternoon.
Chief Parsons said ice was a problem on the sidewalks and walkway for the first arriving crews.
He said departments had tapped three hydrants — Maple and Cherry, Mechanic and Cherry, and Main Street just west of Maple Street.
"To further complicate matters, there was a water main break overnight on Pleasant Street," the chief said, but that did not affect firefighting operations.
Maple Street was blocked from Main Street south to Chestnut Street, with several intersecting streets including Cherry blocked as well by fire apparatus.
Kim Ring of the Telegram & Gazette Staff contributed to this report.
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