Worcester firefighters battle 3-alarm house fire in bitter cold, wind; residents displaced

WORCESTER — Five residents have been displaced by a three-alarm fire in a two-story Wayne Street home Friday night.

There were no reported injuries, said Worcester Acting Deputy Fire Chief Adam Roche, however, the house at 25 Wayne St. has extensive damage and the residents will not be able to return for a while, he said.

Firefighters were hampered by wind and bitter cold temperatures. The fire was reported at 10:22 p.m. Friday, and firefighters found flames coming from the rear porches.

Roche said firefighters conducted an "aggressive interior attack" and search of the house, and did find hoarding conditions.

Images from the scene showed fire coming from the roof above the porches and firefighters indicated they believed the blaze had spread to the attic.

A second alarm was quickly struck and firefighters worked for a time fighting the flames inside the building, but were forced to mount an attack from the exterior of the building as conditions inside became unsafe.

By 11 p.m., firefighters radioed that flames were breaking through the roof as they continued to work to contain the blaze.

The third alarm was sounded as a precaution for extra manpower because of the weather, Roche said.

Crews were still on the scene clearing hot spots for part of Saturday morning.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Roche said.

The house is located on a private street in the Webster Square neighborhood.

A neighboring home was evacuated after concerns that the fire might spread, but residents were subsequently allowed to back inside, Roche said.

The Red Cross and Worcester Emergency Management were assisting the five people displaced by the fire, Roche said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester firefighters battle building fire in cold, wind Friday night