Three people escape as fire destroys $3 million home in Hingham
HINGHAM – A boy, a nanny and a painter escaped a five-alarm fire that destroyed a large home that sold for more than $3 million less than a month ago Monday.
The fire broke out at the five-bedroom home at 4 Mann St. in Crow Point in Hingham.
As the boy and his nanny started to flee, the boy told police that the painter was working upstairs, the Hingham fire chief said.
Pictures posted on social media showed the house completely engulfed in flames.
When WCVB's Sky5 helicopter, a Patriot Ledger media partner, arrived at the scene, all that was left of the structure was collapsed, charred beams, which were still burning. A brick chimney rose from the center.
“It was very apparent that the main body was going to be a complete loss. So, we wanted to prevent spread to the other buildings around here,” Fire Chief Steve Murphy said.
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Crews were dousing nearby homes with water to help keep them from catching fire or being damaged amid dry, windy weather.
Fire officials said the home at 2 Mann St. sustained significant fire damage and the family that lives there has been displaced. Several homes were evacuated.
“Everything is so close together here and it's so dry that if the wind changes directions, this house could go, that house could go, my house could go. The whole block could have burned down,” neighbor Chris Moran said.
Murphy has asked that residents in the area water down the mulch beds on their properties.
StormTeam 5’s Michael Page, who was in Hingham at the time of the fire and was at the scene, said neighbors were hosing down their own homes to prevent them from catching fire. One nearby home had its façade scorched.
Page said the deputy fire chief at the scene told him there were no reports of injuries.
About 120 firefighters helped battle the blaze, including crews from Weymouth, Braintree, Scituate, Hanover, Hull and Rockland, according to reports.
StormTeam 5 meteorologist AJ Burnett said radar was picking up the smoke plume from the large fire.
According to zillow.com, the 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home was sold June 10 for $3.25 million. It was built in 1900 and sat on seven-tenths of an acre, according to the real estate website.
Fire officials said the owners had just moved into the home.
Mann Street is in northeast Hingham, not far from the Hingham Yacht Club.
National Grid and the Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant were working to restore gas and electricity to the neighborhood after it had been shut off by the utility companies. According to the Weir River Water System, residents may temporarily experience discolored water because of the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials said it may have started on a porch.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Three escape as fire destroys $3 million Hingham home
