Saturday Fire Displaces 5

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON—Five tenants of a house at 53 Wilmington Street were displaced by a two-alarm fire Saturday morning that took Brockton firefighters 45 minutes to an hour to extinguish.
“The fire started in a wall of the second floor from some very old wiring,” said Deputy Chief Timothy Murphy. “The first floor tenants heard crackling in the wall and tried to put water on it, but realized it was in the walls and called the department,” he said.
Murphy said the call came at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday. He said two tenants lived on the first floor and three on the second.
“It’s terrible for people anyway and when you add that it’s the holidays—it’s terrible,” Murphy said.
He said the American Red Cross helped the residents find temporary shelter following the fire.
Murphy said the fire ran up the walls to the ceiling of the second floor and caused powerful flames in the attic.
He said the roof of the house is likely destroyed, as are the walls and ceiling where the fire raged. Murphy estimated the damages between $75,000 and $100,000.
He said two firefighters sustained minor injuries and the Stoughton and West Bridgewater fire departments covered some of Brockton’s stations during the blaze.