Child credited with helping painter escape blaze that destroyed multi-million dollar home in Hingham

An alert child is being credited with helping a painter escape a multi-million dollar home in Hingham that burned to the ground on Monday.

Neighbors on Mann Street could not believe what they saw.

“High in the sky flames, high in the sky and the smoke was so thick, it was scary,” said Kathy Mulhall, who lives nearby.

You could see the thick, black smoke for miles, and that fire quickly spread to the house next door.

Hingham Fire Chief Steve Murphy says when they arrived, their first priority was saving the neighbor’s house since they knew this one was already a total loss.

“This was a defensive attack right from the start,” said Chief Murphy.

Chief Murphy says a young boy who lives there was inside the home at the time with his nanny, while a painter was working upstairs.

“The child told the police officer that him and the nanny immediately tried to make their way out of the house, and he remembered that the painter was on the second floor, ran back inside, alerted the painter and the painter was successfully able to get out, but by the time the painter got down to the first floor the first floor was fully involved,” said Chief Murphy.

Luckily the chief says all three of them made it out safely, but it wasn’t easy putting this fire out.

“When we got here the wind was blowing from this direction out towards the water, which was a concern for spreading embers and the heat spreading to the other buildings. We also had an issue with water supply being on top of the hill here,” said Chief Murphy.

Chief Murphy says with that wind blowing the fire, five homes were damaged on this block.

“I feel bad for the people that both just moved in; both new owners,” said Mulhall.

The home that caught fire just sold for $3.2 million in June, according to Zillow.

Now all that’s left is the chimney still standing, surrounded by a pile of debris.

The fire chief says it may be difficult to figure out the cause of the fire since everything is gone, unless they’re able to get more information from witnesses.

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