A plaster angel is among the debris removed from the porch of a two family house on White Street which was damaged by fire Friday afternoon. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – No injuries were reported and nobody was displaced by a fire which damaged the porch of a two family house on White Street Friday afternoon.
An emergency dispatcher received a report of a fire at 25 White Street 3:06 p.m. Saturday and dispatched both police and firefighters to the house next door the Ft. Meadow School.
The house was evacuated and three fire engines and the platform truck arrived at the address four minutes later to find the porch and side of the structure were burning.
The fire was extinguished.
Deputy Chief Mark Devine found cigarette butts on the ground near the porch and reports that “The fire started on the ground under the porch and then traveled up the porch.”
Community policing officer Kevin Bard reports that he spoke with homeowner who said that his downstairs neighbor had been smoking on the porch earlier in the day and apparently failed to completely extinguish a cigarette.
Devine estimated the cost of the damage to the house at about $5,000.
The damage was confined to the exterior of the building and the residents were not displaced by the fire.
