Early Morning Blaze Severely Damages Home on Washington Street

While Westwood Fire officials were not immediately clear on the cause of Thursday morning's , it is believed that the blaze may have begun outside.

"It truly still is under investigation," said Westwood Deputy Fire Chief Mike Reardon. "(The State Fire Marshal) is leaning towards an outside fire that made its way in; a fire that may have started outside of the porch area, maybe in the mulch."

First reports of the fire came in around 12:33 a.m., after Westwood Police Sgt. Bruce McDonald, who was working as Shift Supervisor that night, spotted the blaze at 233 Washington Street.

Westwood Fire crews were assisted by a Norwood engine and a ladder, as well as an engines from the Canton, Medfield, Dover, and Walpole Fire Departments, and a ladder from the Needham Fire Department. Officials from Dedham and Milton Fire Departments covered Westwood's two fire stations during the incident, Reardon said.

Two occupants were asleep in the house at the time of the fire, one on the first floor and one on the second, but both were able to get out of the home after McDonald woke them with the sirens on his cruiser. Meanwhile, Westwood firefighter Ed Brown, who lives nearby, also rushed over to the house.

"The police officer that found (the fire) sounded his siren to alert the occupants," Reardon said. "It alerted the daughter of (Brown). As Eddie was going in to get them, they were coming out."

While the occupants were able to escape the home, there were a number of animals inside at the time that were not accounted for.

"There were a couple of cats that have yet to be located," Reardon said.

The origin of the fire was near the front porch, and was likely caused by a hot or "smoldering" object, Reardon said, which appears to have ignited the mulch outside the home.

While it wasn't immediately clear how much the damage will be in costs, Reardon said the property's value is worth about $500,000, with $100,000 contents. The land around the house did not burn.

"It sustained severe damage," Reardon said. "Most of the roof is caved in, the third floor really isn't safe to walk in; the third floor stairway is gone. The house is damaged."

What's more, firefighters inside the home were evacuated at one point due to danger from the fire on the third floor of the home.

"It's more because the fire was raging overhead, and we pulled everybody out of floors one and two, because the third floor was out of control," he said. "They knocked it down with ladder pipes with heavy streams, and if you fight it from the outside, you can't be on the inside, because it's opposing streams. It took two minutes to knock that portion down."

Reardon said it took fire crews approximately one hour to completely knock down the fire, and engines have been tasked with checking the house throughout the day to ensure the fire doesn't reignite.

On certain occasions, the Red Cross will be called in to assist a family that may be put on the street due to such a fire if no family can be located to help. In this case, however, family was available to take the two occupants in, Reardon said. To assist the residents, a canteen truck was brought in to provide food and water.

"The canteen truck was from the Boston Sparks Association," Reardon said. "They just come out and they give rehab materials to those in need of it - hot coffee, water, snacks, etc. Because at 12:30 in the morning, you're not necessarily hydrated properly."