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Two-alarm blaze guts Norwell house but injures no one

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December 27, 2011|By John M. Guilfoil

A two-alarm fire destroyed a million-dollar home in the South Shore town of Norwell early yesterday, hours after the owner and his family left for a vacation in Vermont, fire officials said.

The blaze broke out around 4 a.m., gutting and partially collapsing the three-story, single-family house at 15 Heritage Lane, said Norwell Fire Chief Andrew Reardon. He said the family of five had left on Sunday night for a skiing vacation in Vermont.

When firefighters arrived, they thought the house was occupied and began searching despite the intense flames, Reardon said.

“One of our priorities is to give an ‘all-clear’ on the building, that all civilians have been accounted for,’’ Reardon said. “But with the volume of fire, it wasn’t looking really positive when I first got there.’’

To the crews’ relief, a neighbor ran over and told Reardon she had just spoken with the family - they were away for the holiday, and no one was inside the house.

“They were all accounted for, which was a great relief,’’ Reardon said.

No firefighters were injured, but the house was a total loss, he said. The fire was not under control until about 8 a.m.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but arson was ruled out, Reardon said. Fire crews from Hanover, Cohasset, Scituate, Rockland, Hanson, and Hingham provided aid.

The family is staying with relatives, Reardon said.