WILMINGTON, Mass. (WHDH) – A quick-thinking police officer in Wilmington helped residents escape unharmed after their home caught fire early Saturday morning.
Police received a call just after 1 a.m. from a resident who saw a home on fire on Ohio Street. Officer Kevin Skinner arrived on scene minutes later and found the back porch was on fire and the flames were spreading quickly. Skinner said he banged on the door as loud as he could to wake the residents up. Then he helped them get out with their pets.
“The second floor had already started filling with smoke, so we gathered up the pets as quickly as possible, the dogs, the homeowners got leashes on the dogs and then we went and got the birds, put them in the cage and I carried the birds, put them outside,” said Skinner.
Fire teams from Wilmington, Tewksbury, and Billerica put out the fire before it spread to the inside of the home. The woman who lives at the home said the inside smells like smoke but most of the fire damage is on the outside of the house. She said she is grateful for the police officer who helped rescue her family and their pets.
Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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