12/11/2013 - Around 1445 hours on the cold afternoon of Wednesday, December 11, 2013 the Whitman Fire Department received a report of a possible house fire at 143 Harvard Street. A child returning home from school found smoke in the home and notified a relative. Engine-2 and Ambulance-247 were out of the building on a detail at the time of the box and responded, while Ladder-1 responded from the station, which was left empty. Holbrook Communications, which handles Whitman's 9-1-1 services took dispatch over. Companies arrived and found light smoke showing from an occupied 1.5 story wood framed dwelling. A fire was found on the first floor. A working fire assignment was requested. This brought East Bridgewater and Hanson (RIT) engines to the scene, and an Abington engine to cover the headquarters. Whitman Engine-1 responded to the scene with off-duty personnel. The Whitman CERT team provided rehab services. Under the command of Lieutenant Al Cunningham, companies made an aggressive interior attack with a 1 3/4" pre-connected hand line and were able to quickly knock down the fire. The fire was reportedly contained to one room on the first floor. The electrical and building inspectors were requested to respond to the scene. The building was not able to be occupied following the fire. The single family dwelling housed a family of five. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but it is believed that the cause of the fire was electrical related. No injuries were reported. Companies remained on-scene for a few hours investigating the blaze and picking up.
