Charging Battery Blamed in Three-Alarm MA Fire

Peter Currier
The Sun, Lowell, Mass.
(TNS)

BILLERICA — A residence on Rangeway Road was a total loss after a three-alarm fire was sparked in the home’s garage Monday and spread to the rest of the structure.

The area around the 268 Rangeway Road home still carried the subtle smell of charred wood and chemicals Wednesday afternoon, two days after flames engulfed most of the structure. The heaviest damage appeared to be on the garage side of the house, where fire officials said the fire began.

Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Kennedy said in a phone call Wednesday firefighters responded to the home just before noon on Monday and arrived after the elderly homeowners had already been evacuated from the home. The fire is believed to have started from a charging battery in a gas powered car in the garage.

“He started one of his cars in the garage, then went inside and closed the door going into the garage,” said Kennedy, referring to the 83-year-old male homeowner. “When he went back soon after to open it, he felt the heat and saw the smoke.”

Kennedy said passersby and neighbors helped to get the homeowner’s wife out of the house, and got them both across the street away from the structure. The husband is a hobbyist who frequently would work on older cars in the garage, Kennedy said.

“By the time we got there the garage was fully involved,” said Kennedy.

Photos and videos of the fire shared on social media showed firefighters using a ladder truck to combat the flames shooting through a hole that formed in the roof after the fire spread from the attached garage. The house has since been condemned by Billerica’s Building Department, Kennedy said, with utilities to the property being shut off.

Neither homeowner was injured in the blaze, and there were no pets in the house. Kennedy said the couple has their daughter living nearby, so they are not displaced too far.

Billerica received mutual aid from the fire departments of Lowell, Chelmsford, Wilmington, Bedford, Burlington and Tewksbury.

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