Fire strikes Webster three-decker

Date:  Thursday January 17, 2013
Location:  14 Dresser St.

Particulars:   Shortly before 11 AM on Thursday January 17^th, Webster firefighters responded to a reported structure fire on Dresser Street.  Webster Police Officer Leonard Gevry was amongst the first to arrive on scene and found fire venting from a second floor window of the three-story wood frame multi-family dwelling located at 14 Dresser Street.  He reported his findings to incoming fire department units by radio.

While Webster firefighters arrived on scene and began to stretch hoselines to get to the seat of the fire on the second floor, Officer Gevry pulled out a nearby garden hose and trained the small stream into the involved window from outside the building.  This apparently slowed the progress of the rapidly moving fire, allowing interior firefighters to quickly gain access to the room that was on fire.

Webster Fire Chief Brian Hickey realized early that he was quite short-handed for a fire in such a large building, and he immediately called for help from the neighboring Dudley, Oxford, and Douglas fire departments.  The three mutual aid departments assisted Webster firefighters in the final extinguishment of the fire.

Firefighters did a great job of holding the fire to the room of origin, but the fire did extend up some of the room’s partitions to a room above and the attic area.  The fire damage in those areas appeared to be minimal, but the third floor room had to be stripped of wallboard to gain access to the fire and any hidden embers. 

The fire is under investigation and there didn’t appear to be any injuries during the firefighting operations.