East Bridgewater woman who lost everything in fire describes dramatic rescue by strangers

EAST BRIDGEWATER — Tina Veronesi Spano was sitting at her kitchen table having coffee with her friend John when she heard banging on her walls.

She didn't know it, but two men were trying to alert her that her house was on fire. The men were driving delivery trucks on Route 18 when they saw the side of the house go up in flames on Sunday, Feb. 4, Spano said.

“I heard someone banging up and down the walls,” she said.

When she went to see what the banging was, she couldn’t see anybody outside of her home on Old Bedford Road in East Bridgewater. But by the time she got back to her kitchen "fists were smashing through the kitchen window,” she said.

Spano said she was ready to pick up a baseball bat, but then realized the men were trying to help her.

“They shattered the window and started screaming, 'Get out of the house',” said Spano, who said she was in shock and didn't know what was going on.

The men then opened her door and walked into her kitchen yelling, “Your house in on fire, your house in on fire," she said.

Spano thought of her two beloved rescue cats and "jetted down" to her bedroom to grab one of the animal crates from her closet, but couldn’t find it.

“As soon as I opened the bedroom door, I couldn’t breathe, the smoke was so black and thick," she said.

Spano said one of the men then pulled her out of the bedroom just in time.

“The next thing I know, the whole bedroom wall went up in flames,” she said.

The two men dragged Spano and her friend John out of the house. By then, the first responders had arrived and they wouldn’t let her back into the house, she said.

Spano said she doesn’t know who the men are who saved her, but she’d like to thank them.

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What happened on day of fire

On Sunday, Feb. 4, East Bridgewater Fire dispatchers received multiple 911 calls regarding the structure fire at 53 Old Bedford Road.

When responders arrived they discovered that the fire had spread to much of the home, a two-story, L-shaped dwelling, East Bridgewater Fire Chief Timothy Harhen said in a written statement.

Two other occupants of the other unit escaped the building with their dog through a first-floor window, according to Harhen.

“I sat there in John's truck in my pajamas for five hours watching the house I lived in for 17 years burn to the ground,” Spano said.

“It was totally horrifying."

Harhen said the building is a total loss.

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Spano's beloved cats die in fire

Spano's cats, Puttie and Puppy, perished in the fire.

Spano found Puttie about 16 years ago. He was outside, half dead when she took him in. Puppy was adopted from the Holbrook pound. He was about 14 years old with emerald-green eyes and triple paws in the front and double paws in the back, she said.

Lost everything she owned and cherished

Spano said everything she owned was destroyed in the fire

“I lost all of my jewelry, my pictures, my life,” she said.

Spano said she’d been collecting Native American items, primitive antiques, oak furniture and more for many years, and now "it's all gone."

Her truck was also partially melted in the fire, but it’s running now.

Thankful to police and fire for going above and beyond

“The East Bridgewater police were so great,” she said. "The keys to my truck melted in the fire and the police helped me get a copy of the registration so I could have the new ones made."

Harhen went into the house and found her wallet in the debris.

“He crawled around in the rubble looking for my stuff,” she said.

Her handmade buffalo bag was melted, but didn’t burn. Harhen took a knife and split the bag open, and all her stuff poured out, she said.

"Everything that was in my wallet, including my license, didn’t burn," she said.

Where she is staying now

Spano is temporarily staying with someone she's been "great friends" with for 40 years.

"I'd like to stay in the East Bridgewater or Bridgewater areas," she said. “I’m an old farm girl."

Spano, 64, is originally from Bridgewater and resided there until moving to East Bridgewater.

“That house was perfect,” Spano said, “It was like having my own house.”

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How to help Spano

A GoFundMe has been setup to help Spano recover.

"A devastating fire destroyed Tina's home and her beloved furry cats on Sunday, Feb. 4," the organizer of the GoFundMe wrote.

"Tina escaped the home unharmed, but everything she owned was destroyed."

"Tina is now faced with the difficult task of rebuilding her life from scratch. Any donation, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated and will go towards covering the cost of temporary housing, food and clothing, furnishings, and rebuilding expenses."

Staff writer Kathy Bossa can be reached by email at kbossa@enterprisenews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: East Bridgewater woman lost everything in Old Bedford Road house fire