A blaze fiercely tore through an Orange home just before the witching hour, leaving two seniors seriously injured and their residence in ruins. The three-alarm fire ignited at 99 West River St. and was battled by the brave Orange Fire Department, who were on the scene following a distress call at 11:49 p.m. on Wednesday.
The inferno, which decimated the house, did not initially strike investigators as suspicious. According to the officials, the seniors were kept warm by a wood stove, now among the rubble of their former home. Firefighters faced the conflagration head-on, rescuing one older adult from the grip of the lethal flames. "Our foremost concern right now is for two members of our community who were seriously injured last night," Orange Fire Chief James Young said. He extended gratitude to mutual aid partners and lauded his firefighters for their life-saving valor in the face of peril.
The duo injured in the dire episode were hastily tended to before being whisked away to Athol Memorial Hospital. Their condition necessitated further medical attention, leading to their subsequent transfer to Boston hospitals. Meanwhile, two other occupants managed to elude harm, escaping the fury unscathed.
"If you use a fireplace or wood stove to heat your home, please use it safely," State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine advised. He reminded the public of heating equipment's rank as the second-leading cause of residential fires in Massachusetts and proffered safety guidelines to mitigate future tragedies. In the wake of the blaze, all four residents face the hardship of displacement, and the investigators from both the Orange Fire Department and the State Police assigned to the State Fire Marshal's office continue to unravel the cause of the fire.
