NORWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A police officer is being credited with saving a family after their house caught on fire in Norwell early Thursday morning.
The Norwell police officer was patrolling the area of River Street around 12:30 a.m. when he saw smoke coming from the roof of a home, according to Norwell Fire Chief Jeff Simpson.
He quickly knocked on the door before entering the house and woke up a couple, their three young children, and a family pet.
They were all able to get out of the burning home safely.
“The role of the police officer is instrumental. Things like this, especially where there aren’t a lot of people on the road right now, especially with the COVID restrictions, without his excellent observation, him being on patrol, this family never would have gotten out alive,” Simpson said. “He saved the family’s life.”
When firefighters arrived, they found fire in the attic above the bedrooms, second floor of the main house and in the house’s addition.
The fire probably started in the addition, Simpson said, but the cause remains under investigation.
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