Firefighters Battle Three-Alarm Thanksgiving Fire In Salem, NH
SALEM, N.H. (CBS) -- Firefighters put out a three-alarm blaze at a century-old farmhouse on Thanksgiving morning.
Flames broke out in a Haverhill Road home on Thursday, which firefighters say was likely the result of an electrical issue.
The house that burned down belonged to Paula DeFelice's elderly parents, and she said she's just glad they're OK.
"It's Thanksgiving but all that went through my kind was that my family is safe and they're safe," DeFelice said. "We may have lost one of our animals, part of our family, but my mother and father are safe."
DeFelice is especially glad everyone is OK because her father's first reaction as flames engulfed his home was to run back in. He went to save a picture of her.
"I am amazed that that's what was on his mind," Paula DeFelice told WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal. "I never would have thought in a million years. That's family. At the worst times you see real love."
DeFelice's father said he saw an electrical outlet sparking and tried to control the flames, but it was soon too late.
"I heard some crackling sound and I looked and the outlet, in the little bedroom it was sparking and there was some clothes on the clothes rack and the clothes had begun to catch on fire so I moved all the clothes, ran to the kitchen, got a fire extinguisher and thought I put it out," Mike DeFelice said.
The house is not hooked up to municipal water, according to Salem Fire Marshal Jeffrey Emanuelson, which made the blaze harder to put out. Numerous tankers responded to the scene. The fire, Emanuelson said, was accidental.
"Probably electrical in nature, whether its a misuse of extension cords at this point or the building's...wiring plan," Emanuelson said.
The house was under renovation, which allowed flames to spread easier, Emanuelson said. It's likely a total loss.
No one was seriously hurt in the blaze, through DeFelice's mother was taken to the hospital as a precaution. Two of the family's three cats are missing.
"It's always awful to have fires but to have one on Thanksgiving around the holiday its even that much more devastating our hearts go out to this family." Fire Chief Paul Parisi said.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karyn Regal reports