South Orleans fire substantially damages waterfront home
SOUTH ORLEANS — Firefighters working in gale force winds and a driving rain extinguished an early morning fire at a waterfront home on Pleasant Bay.
Orleans Fire Chief Geoff Deering said the sole occupant of the Kingsbury Lane home called the station at 7:58 a.m. Monday after he smelled smoke and discovered the fire in the home's basement.
"When we first got there, there was heavy smoke in the basement and first floor, with fire in the basement and some in the first floor," Deering said.
Firefighters from Brewster, Eastham, and Harwich assisted and Hyannis, Wellfleet and Dennis personnel helped with station coverage.
The big challenge was the weather, as a storm front was moving through at the time, and the relatively remote location as firefighters had to run hoses to a hydrant 1,800 feet away, Deering said.
"It was an incredible effort by the firefighters in less than ideal conditions," Deering said. "I was not doing the level of work they were, but it was miserable. I was pretty much soaked and so are they. It makes hard work, that much harder."
The fire was extinguished fairly quickly, but portions of the home were substantially damaged and the building was deemed uninhabitable, but not a total loss, Deering said. He said the cause of the fire was believed to be an electrical malfunction.
Contact Doug Fraser at dfraser@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DougFraserCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Fire substantially damages South Orleans waterfront home
