HULL, MASS. (WHDH) - Crews remained on scene in Hull Monday night after a fire spread quickly, destroying a home on Q Street.
SKY7-HD was over the area around 6:15 p.m. where smoke could be seen billowing over surrounding neighborhoods.
Hours later, around 9 p.m., crews were still pouring water on the home while monitoring for hot spots.
“You could see it traveling through the house,” neighbor Janet Scribner said of moments Monday afternoon. “The windows down in the basement one after another started to light up with fire and then it all blew out at the end of the house.”
Area residents called 911 just after 5:30 p.m.
Firefighters then rushed to the home.
“We showed up with five guys,” said Hull Fire Department Chief Chris Russo. “This is a lot of work for five guys on duty to maintain this.”
Firefighters from seven nearby communities were called in to help as flames and black smoke filled the neighborhood around the burning home.
Russo said the owners of the home were outside when the fire started. A dog, though, was inside and died.
Water supply wasn’t an issue, Russo said. But windy conditions in the area were a challenge.
“We had a lot of wind here, a lot of fire,” Russo said. “Everything was on fire by the time the crews got here.”
“So, there was a lot of fire to contend with, but they did a tremendous job keeping this to one house and not losing a whole block,” he continued.
Dry and windy conditions have been prevalent around parts of Massachusetts recently, bringing wind gusting to 30 miles-per-hour in some coastal areas Monday. Elsewhere on Monday, brush fires in nearby Lynn forced officials to close trails within the Lynn Woods Reservation and call in a helicopter to drop water on burning wooded areas.
In Hull, the fire on Q Street was eventually put out. The home was a total loss. While the fire didn’t spread beyond the home where it started, other nearby homes and buildings suffered some heat damage.
“[It’s] just sad we’ve known the owners of the house for a lot of years,” one person said.
While destroying the home, this fire also impacted voting in Hull’s annual town election, with town officials announcing around 8 p.m. that voting hours would be extended at Hull High School until 10 p.m.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Monday night.
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