Woman Escapes House Fire In Peabody
PEABODY (CBS) - Investigators in Peabody are looking into the cause of a two-alarm fire that has left a Broad Street family homeless. Flames started in the attached garage of the house early Friday evening. Neighbor Michelle Giarusso spotted the fire from her kitchen window and immediately called 911.
"We were making pizza in the kitchen and all of sudden the flames were huge. There was like no warning, just huge," Giarusso explained. "My grandson was like, Nana, the house is on fire over there! It was scary."
Firefighters arrived to find the garage fully engulfed, according to Fire Department Chief Steven Pasdon.
"At that point in time we tried to take more of a defensive approach until we could really could figure out where the fire was going," Pasdon said.
The fire traveled through the house's roof and spread to the living area before firefighters could get it under control. After the fire was out, firefighters were seen retrieving some personal effects, including framed photographs, for the family. They also searched for the homeowners' two cats, neither of which survived the fire.
The current homeowners bought the property in February, according to Mary Whitmore, who previously owned the home. When she heard about the fire, she rushed to the scene and looked on in tears.
"It's sad," Whitmore said. "I'm just heartbroken, very heartbroken. It's like my own, like it was still mine."
Neighbors tell WBZ a woman who lives at the home was there when the fire started, but she was able to make it out safely.
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