An elderly woman escaped her burning trailer home near 685 Broadway in Malden on Monday morning after hearing a loud bang or explosion moments before smoke filled the room, and she was taken to a hospital for smoke exposure. The fire destroyed her home, killed two pet bunnies, and spread to a neighboring unit, damaging its siding before firefighters brought the blaze under control.
Malden firefighters were called to the trailer park, according to NBC Boston, and responded with six crews. It took a little more than an hour to bring the fire under control, per Deputy Chief Keith Buchanan. The elderly resident's trailer was severely damaged, and two neighboring residents evacuated safely as flames spread toward their unit.
Buchanan said trailer parks like this one, located near 685 Broadway in Malden, can present additional fire risks because homes are built close together. The community includes manufactured homes. The homes are built close together.
Why Tightly Packed Trailer Lots Burn Fast
Homes built close together can make it easier for a fire to reach neighboring structures. That dynamic appears consistent with what happened at Town Line Estates, where the blaze reached a second home before crews stopped its advance.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and it isn't yet known whether the destroyed trailer had working smoke detectors installed at the time. Federal HUD Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards, put in place in June 1976, mandated flame-spread limits and factory-installed smoke detectors that, according to research cited by GlobeNewswire, cut fire incidence in post-1976 manufactured homes by 38 to 44 percent compared with site-built homes. Older mobile homes built before that date were not subject to those uniform federal construction rules.
Smoke Alarms Remain A National Gap
Smoke alarms may not always be operational when needed. In Massachusetts, manufactured homes used as dwellings must comply with federal HUD standards under the state building code, according to the Massachusetts state building code.
Smoke alarms are intended to alert residents to fires. It isn't known from available information whether the trailer involved in Monday morning's fire was equipped with one.
Elderly Residents Face Elevated Fire Risk Statewide
The Malden fire highlights the importance of fire safety for older adults.
Malden's Fire Prevention Division is part of the city's fire-safety efforts. The Malden Fire Department drew on six of those crews to contain Monday morning's fire in just over an hour.
No further injuries beyond the elderly resident's smoke exposure have been reported, and investigators have not yet determined what caused the loud bang she heard before smoke filled her home. The extent of the damage to the neighboring unit's siding and the exact physical origin of the fire remain open questions as the investigation continues.
