HOLBROOK, MASS. (WHDH) - Flames tore through a home in Holbrook on Tuesday, leading to crews from multiple communities being called in to put out the fire on Union Street.
Firefighters worked throughout the morning and afternoon after being called to the two-and-a-half-story home around 10:30 a.m., according to officials.
A neighbor told 7NEWS he was on his way home from a nearby Walgreens when he saw several people come out of the rooming house in distress.
He also heard a woman scream, “Fire!” and say that she couldn’t find her cat.
“It billowed into a bunch of smoke and all of a sudden the windows ruptured and it was engulfed in flames,” he said.
7NEWS spoke with the woman, Erin Harkins, who said she was playing a video game when she heard alarms going off.
“Everything happened so fast,” Harkins said. “The cops pulled me out of my house and – it just started in flames, it was very fast.”
She said her biggest fear was for her cat, Cleo, who she was unable to grab before being evacuated.
“I kind of went into action and tried to pull [my cat] out from underneath the bed, but the cops wouldn’t let me,” the woman added. “I had to leave.”
A short time after speaking to 7NEWS, though, Animal Control personnel came out out of the building with Cleo in tow, reuniting Harkins with her pet.
“I am so blessed,” Harkins exclaimed. “I kept close with God this whole time. I was so worried about my baby, but she’s right here.”
“You know, I can replace all of the materials – I can find somewhere else to live but, I’m just happy about my cat too – I’m happy she’s OK,” said Nicholas Roberts, Erin’s boyfriend.
The fire remains under investigation, with crews and the State Fire Marshall officials spending time investigating on the second floor of the building where much of the flames had burned.
No other injuries were reported.
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