Acting Fire Chief Dave Eastman reports that the Stoneham Fire Department responded early Friday morning to a rekindle at a Main Street home that was destroyed by a 2-alarm fire on Thursday.
Following Thursday morning’s fire in a single-family home at 590 Main St., in which one resident was rescued by firefighters, Stoneham Fire Department kept a firefighter on fire watch until the early afternoon. Firefighters detected no signs of continuing smoldering in the building, nor did any additional checks later in the day.
But on Friday, Jan. 24, at about 4:45 a.m., Stoneham Fire Department dispatchers received a 911 call reporting another fire in the home.
Companies arrived a short time later to find heavy fire coming from the home’s remains and struck a second alarm. Firefighters immediately took a defensive posture as they got water on the fire to prevent it from spreading to any other nearby structures.
The home had already been condemned as a result of the first fire, so once the second fire was brought under control about 8 a.m., what was remaining of the home was torn down and flooded with water to prevent additional flare-ups.
There were no reported injuries.
It is believed that excessive clutter inside the home may have contributed to the rekindle by hiding hot spots that later rekindled. A complete investigation by the Stoneham Fire Department and the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office remains underway.
Firefighters from the Wakefield, Reading, Melrose, Woburn, and Winchester fire departments provided mutual aid at the scene. Firefighters from Saugus, Medford and Malden covered Stoneham’s stations during the fire.