GEORGETOWN, MASS. (WHDH) – An electrical or mechanical failure involving a small refrigerator was to blame for a four-alarm fire that killed an 80-year-old woman in Georgetown over the weekend, state and local officials announced.
The fire started in a home on East Main Street near 11 p.m. Saturday. Emergency crews responded and found the home engulfed in flames, with heavy fire coming through the roof, according to a joint statement from Georgetown Fire Chief Matt McKay, Georgetown Police Chief David Sedgwick, State Fire Marshal Jon Davine, and Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.
Though three people were able to escape the home, officials said, one person remained trapped inside.
Firefighters removed the trapped person from a second floor window and attempted life saving efforts. She was brought to an area hospital but was pronounced dead early Sunday morning, officials said.
Officials on Monday identified the woman who died as Nancy Holbrook of Georgetown.
“Ms. Holbrook’s family and loved ones remain in our thoughts today,” McKay said. “On behalf of the Georgetown Fire Department and the community, I want to extend our heartfelt condolences.”
The response to the fire Saturday night grew to four alarms and drew mutual aid from more than a dozen area fire departments, according to McKay, Sedgwick, Davine and Tucker. The Red Cross of Massachusetts was also helping displaced residents as of Monday afternoon.
After emergency crews wrapped up their response, officials investigated the fire and found it started in a refrigerator inside a wooden bar on the home’s first floor.
Authorities determined the fire was accidental, officials said.
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