Turley Publications photos by Jonathan Cook

Brian Silva relaxes after extinguishing a house fire at his neighbor’s home.

Firefighters asses the upturned car port and the burnt dangling wires.

Neighbor extinguishes house fire

Violent winds stir up trouble on Lake Shore drive

By Jonathan Cook

Turley Publications Reporter

WEST BROOKFIELD – A sunny, summer like afternoon last Tuesday suddenly became a danger zone on Lake Shore Drive when strong winds rose up. The aggressive gust manhandled a car port, flipping it up into cable and electric lines, causing a fire that spread into the next door house.

Across the street, resident Brian Silva saw smoke coming from his neighbor’s house. His first thought was to find a fire extinguisher, he said. Then he remembered he had one in his van.

“It was 20 years old and it read empty,” Silva said.

But he took off into the burning house anyway. “I was looking around and at first I couldn’t find the fire,” he said. Then, in a built in cubby, he saw the source of the smoke. It was the DVD player in flames. Also, “the cable box was melting,” Silva noted.

With a few squirts of his supposedly empty fire extinguisher, the fire was out. But there was danger outside, too.

According to Fire Chief Paul Lupacchino, the car port itself was electrified for a time. Lupacchino said the car port’s owner, Steve Morris, told him the car port was fastened with nylon strap and 80-pound blocks. When the strap snapped, Morris tried to hold the metal framed car port down. Then he felt his feet leave the ground. Almost as soon as he let go, the car port flew into the live wire and became electrified. The electrical wire became grounded through the cable wire, creating a hot line through the cable into the house. The cable line outside also burst into flames and after the power was shut off, the wire casing hung shredded from the dangling line.

“The quick reaction of the neighbor (Silva) resulted in a positive outcome,” Lupacchino said. “And he deserves to be recognized for that. But we don’t recommend it. He could have been hurt, but he definitely prevented further damage.”

Lupacchino noted that it was fortunate that nobody was seriously injured.

“It could have had catastrophic consequences,” he said. “It’s very dangerous entering a structure on fire.”

Lupacchino said quite a few appliances were affected in the house as well. “(The power surge) went though five different circuit breakers,” he said.

Lupacchino added that he spoke with the wiring inspector and was told that the set up that had allowed the cable line to catch flame, is in fact allowed.

“I caution people to be on the lookout for those types of things when the wind picks up like that. This area is prone to microbursts.”

The wind also knocked down many tree limbs around town, Lupacchino said, but nothing else compared with the adventure on Lake Shore Drive that day.

Lupacchino noted that there were extreme wind conditions in and around Hubbardston that day as well.