The home at 40 Park St. Westfield where a fire took the lives of two women. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
WESTFIELD–A fire Saturday at 40 Park Street claimed the lives of Ms. Mary Woodworth, 92, and Ms. Theresa Woodworth, 54. The loss of life was in part due to a lack of working smoke detectors and what was called a “hoarding situation,” according to at least one official.
Emergency personnel responded to a call at 40 Park Street on Saturday around 3 p.m., where a fire had started. According to Westfield Fire Department Deputy Chief Patrick Egloff, the fire at the single-family structure was contained to one room and firefighters were able to get water to the blaze in spite of hydrant issues, but a collection of belongings in their way caused issues for them.
The home at 40 Park St. Westfield where a fire took the lives of two women. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
“The hoarding situation gave us some difficulty while we were trying to advance our hose lines through the home,” he said.
In addition, no working smoke detectors were found in the home, according to Egloff.
“If there were, there may have been a different outcome for the two individuals,” he said.
Egloff said that one of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other was transported to Baystate Noble Hospital by Westfield Fire personnel and later died.
Egloff reported that there was also a difficulty with hydrants at the scene.
“We did have a little bit of difficulty with fire hydrants but that did not effect the outcome,” he said.
He said that each engine carries 750 gallons of water that they “carry at all times,” and over 2,000 gallons of water was at the scene.
“We had plenty of water to put out the room and contents fire,” according to Egloff.
A partially obscured fire hydrant is seen near the property of the fire on Park St in Westfield. (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
“I can tell you I have all the confidence in the water system we have in Westfield,” he also said.
Additional services were also called into the city, with the fire department from the 104th Fighter Wing out of Barnes Air Reserve Base coming to assist due to the hydrant issues, while West Springfield and Holyoke Fire Departments brought additional back-up to the city to help respond to any other emergencies.
This is an open and on-going investigation being conducted by the Westfield Fire and Police Departments, the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni, and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
