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Off-Duty Mass. Firefighters Save Woman From Fire

Feb. 13, 2013

Two off-duty firefighters just happened to be in the right place when fire broke out in a Hingham home and saved a woman who was desperately trying to rescue a dog from the blaze.

Source The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)

Two off-duty firefighters are being credited with saving the life of a Hingham woman desperately trying to rescue a dog from the family's burning home.

Capt. William Powers of the Hingham Fire Department said Tuesday that Weymouth Firefighter John Higgins and Quincy Firefighter Mike Eastwick were first at the scene of the three-alarm blaze that gutted the 1½-story home at 276 East St. in Hingham on Monday. Powers said the two off-duty firefighters pulled the homeowner's daughter from the house minutes before the house was consumed by fire.

"The two of them were at the right place at the right time," he said. "They got her out before she succumbed to the smoke and fire."

Hingham firefighters stayed at the scene for more than eight hours Monday and set up an overnight watch to make sure the fire didn't start up again. The house, which was last assessed at $425,900, was described as a total loss.

Powers said Eastwick and Higgins happened to be driving down East Street together Monday morning when they spotted smoke pouring out of the home and stopped to investigate. Powers said they broke open the front door after hearing a woman's screams and could see only her arm through the smoke.

"She said, 'I can't leave, I have to get my dog,'" Powers said.

While Higgins went back into the house to look for the dog, Eastwick followed the woman as she tried to get back into the house through a rear door and pulled her out again, Powers said. With the help of an off-duty Hull police officer, Detective Sgt. Bart Forzese, the firefighters held the woman back to keep her from going back in as the fire raged.

"They said within seconds the basement lit up, flashed over, and the woman, now at the front of the house, tried to go back in again," Powers said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal's office and the Hingham Fire Department, but Powers said it does not appear suspicious.

Reach Neal Simpson at [email protected]