BOXBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A home in Boxborough went up in flames Tuesday morning, leaving the building and a car in the driveway completely charred, according to Boxboro Fire.
Crews responded to the home on Old Orchard Lane shortly after 10 a.m. Cell phone video captured massive flames and thick, black smoke pouring from the building.
Gary Schwarting, who has lived in the home for 40 years, said he was outside cleaning up the yard when he smelled smoke. He said he opened the door to the garage and saw flames, then quickly yelled for his wife to get out.
“The whole side of the house was in flames, the car was okay but then it started catching on fire,” said Schwarting. “The heat was just kind of amazing so somehow it caught the car which was about 10 feet away, but it actually melted the side of the shed which is about 30 feet away.”
While firefighters worked to put out the blaze, Schwarting was being treated after his hair was singed by the heat. No one else was hurt.
Boxborough Fire Chief John Kivlan said since there are no fire hydrants in the town, the main focus was getting water to the scene with the help of tankers from surrounding communities.
“Boxborough is a difficult town to fight fire in,” said Kivlan. “We don’t get municipal water supply, so finding water and a fire cistern that we can access, especially in the winter, and a day like today that’s a little unseasonably warm, makes fighting a fire like this tough on the firefighters. That’s why we went to a third alarm for more personnel, just to give our firefighters a break.”
The home is considered a total loss, but Schwarting remains hopeful about the situation.
“Things like this happen and you just don’t expect it, and you just sort of accept the bad with the good,” said Schwarting. “Hopefully we can just rebuild and we’ll be back here in a year or two or whatever it takes.”
Investigators believe the fire started in the garage. The cause is under investigation.
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