MAYNARD, MASS. (WHDH) - Gas line testing continues in Maynard following a deadly fire Thursday.
Libbie Pilsch lives on Park Street across from the home that was consumed by the flames and said she heard what sounded like an explosion around 4 p.m.
“I ran to my front window and I thought at first it was a car accident and the windows were in my front yard from the house,” she said.
Pilsch said she raced to call 911 and then saw the smoke and flames.
“Because both their cars were in the driveway, I was like both of them are there with the dog,” she said. “So I ran over there screaming, ‘Are you guys OK? You guys OK?”
The fire spread quickly and a man who was in the home at the time was pronounced dead.
Two Maynard police officers and a firefighter were rushed to a nearby hospital. They are expected to be OK.
Eversource gas crews remained in the area and Pilsch said the company asked her to leave her home Thursday night as a precaution.
“They’ve been testing our house now for about 24 hours just about,” she said. “I guess we had gas coming in off of the fieldstone in the basement and you shouldn’t have a reading.”
“Our crews have remained in the area throughout the day monitoring the situation and are working with state and local agencies as we investigate what happened,” said an Eversource spokesperson in part.
The Maynard Fire Department announced Friday night, crews will continue to test supply lines throughout the town out of caution. The work will likely continue into next week.
If residents see crews in their neighborhood they are told not be alarmed.
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