Larry Laurent was taking a nap in his home at 68 Auburn Street after participating in the annual Leicester Firefighter Associations Golf Tournament when he was awoken by his son telling him there was a fire on the porch. His son handed him the fire extinguisher to put out the blaze. Larry looked out and seen the flames quickly consuming the exterior of his home and realized the extinguisher was no match for the raging inferno.

Larry along with his wife and 2 children were able to escape the home and call 911. As the tones were being hit for a porch fire Leicester Fire Company One was already at the station after being toned for a brush fire at the local Wal-Mart.

Leicester Car 1, Chief Wilson, immediately left the area of Wal-Mart and headed toward the fire across town and could see a column of smoke in the distance. As units were responding dispatch advised they got a second call from a neighbor and the home at that time was pretty well involved.

Engine 2 would arrive almost simultaneously as Car 1 finding heavy fire from all areas of the wrap around porch shooting some 20 foot flames into the air. Engine 1 arrived seconds later and grabbed the hydrant at the corner of Main Street and Auburn Street and laid a 4” supply line to the scene. Engine 4 deployed a 2 ½” hand line with a blitz gun as Engine 2 was also stretching a 2 ½” attack line to knock down the heavy exterior fire before making entry into the home.

The fire had already spread to the 1st and 2nd floors of the 1800’s farm house before firefighters arrived on scene.

Firefighters from Auburn, Spencer, Paxton and Oxford quickly emerged on scene to assist the Leicester firefighters in bringing the blaze under control with very extensive overhaul to follow.

Charlton covered the empty Station 3 in the Rochdale section of town while East Brookfield covered Leicester Fire Headquarters on Water Street.

Firefighters continued to investigate the cause of the blaze and check for hot spots well into the night. A trooper from the MA State Police assisted Leicester with the investigation into the fire that caused an estimated $200,000 in damage. While the fire was contained to the front portions of the home heavy smoke damage went throughout the structure.

A Spencer Firefighter was transported to the hospital for heat exhaustion. All family pets made it out of the home with the exception of a cat that remained missing as of last night.