House fire on Oriental Court
Published on August 23rd, 2000
STONEHAM, MA - On Aug. 16 Stoneham Firefighters extinguished burning floor joints above the kitchen ceiling of 5 Oriental Court with quick thinking and 400 feet of attack line.
No one in the single-family house was hurt. The fire did not spread past the kitchen ceiling.
Firefighter Michael O'Sullivan of Stoneham's arson unit identified the cause: Wires from an old light fixture in the kitchen melted, igniting the adjoining floor joint.
After smelling smoke resident Anita McPherson, 43, called the Stoneham Fire Department at 10:14 p.m. The firefighters arrived on Engines 4, 5 and Ladder 1 at 10:16 p.m.
Captain Douglas Griffin and his crew ran 200 feet of four-inch supply line from a hydrant to Engine 5 and two 200-foot inch-and-three-quarter attack lines from Engine 5 into the front and back of the home.
O'Sullivan said that firefighters encountered light smoke conditions after entering the home.
The men looked for the fire in the walls and cut the power to the house. They axed a hole in the rear wall of the house and another in the kitchen ceiling, discovering the fire.
"They did a great job finding it as quickly as they did," O'Sullivan said.
The crew returned to the station at 11:12 p.m.
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