Fire ravages Pearl St. home
Published on January 19th, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - Stoneham Firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze Tuesday morning at the 12 Pearl St. home of Jim and Julie Belschner.
No one was hurt, and the fire was out by 1 p.m., but the upper level of the two-story house was severely damaged.
"The fire was in all the walls," Firefighter Matt Grafton said. "We were pulling down walls and ceiling."
The window and roof were also ripped open in the effort to extinguish the fire and ventilate smoke.
Stoneham Fire used three 1 3/4- inch attack lines and a 4-inch supply line to battle the fire. Firefighter Bill Dockery ran the pumps, keeping the water moving so the hoses wouldn't freeze in the sub-zero cold. The first alarm sounded at 9:17 a.m., followed by another at 9:20 a.m., and the third at 9:44 a.m. The temperature at 10 a.m. was one degree above zero.
The Belschner's two children — first grader Julianne and high school student Jim — were both at school when the fire broke out. The Belschner parents made it out safely before Firefighters arrived.
A wood burning stove mishap is thought to be the cause of the fire, but the specifics are still under investigation.
Tuesday evening neighbors sadly watched the Belschners retrieve articles from their home. According to neighbors, the family has relatives in the Middlesex area. The Pearl Street home is not habitable. Besides smoke and fire damage to the upper level, the water necessary to fight the fire damaged the entire house. As of Tuesday night, Stoneham Fire had not completed a formal damage estimate.
The first firefighters on the scene Tuesday morning were the men of Stoneham's Group 2. They were on duty when the call came. Group 2 includes Capt. James Halpin, Lt. Frank Gould, Bill Dockery, Bill McNulty, Brian McMahon, Michael O'Sullivan, Scott Greenleaf, Matt Grafton and Joseph Cryan. This group arrived on Engines 1, 2 and Ladder 1.
Other off-duty firefighters reported to the station after learning of the fire and traveled to the scene on Engine 2. Melrose, Medford, Woburn and Reading Fire Departments also showed up to aid the Stoneham men.
Firefighters rotated in and out of the home, taking brief brakes to refill their air tanks.
A quick response and thorough job prevented the fire from spreading. Stoneham engines were heading back to the station by 1:15 p.m.
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