Electrical fire generates large flames

The fire most likely started from a surge protector strip that was plugged into another surge protector strip, according to Baldwin Fire Department Chief Craig Yanantuono.

Courtesy Bill Bennett

A home on Ann Street caught fire on May 25 around 8 p.m.

Courtesy Bill Bennett

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Members of the Baldwin Fire Department battled their second house fire in four days on May 25 when an electrical fire sprung up on Ann Street.

According to Chief Craig Yanantuono, a call came in around 8 p.m. and it wasn’t long before firefighters knew the fire was sizeable. He said the smoke could be seen from far away. “You knew blocks away that we were going to something,” he said.

Once on scene, firefighters put water on the fire, which began in a room in the front of the home on the second floor, made sure no one was still inside and checked for additional pockets of fire.

Yanantuono said the fire most likely started from a surge protector strip that was plugged into another surge protector strip. “It was electrical in nature,” he said.

Everyone inside the home got out OK, but the fire spread to the attic and roofline, Yanantuono said.

After not having a structural fire in Baldwin since October, this was the second blaze the department battled in the week. A home on Eastern Parkway caught fire after a car in the nearby driveway went up in flames on May 22.

“There’s no rhyme of reason to it,” Yanantuono said of when fires happen. “We take it as it comes and do our best with what we can do.”