December 8, 1972
At 7:29 PM on a snowy Friday evening, the Fire Department received a call for a fire in the Robinson House, a Fay School faculty apartment building at 50 Main Street (current site of the Stewart Dormitory). Arriving firefighters were faced with heavy smoke and fire conditions. Mutual aid was requested from Marlborough to the scene.
The cause was determined to be combustibles (bedding) in contact with electric baseboard heat.
Firefighters operate on Marlborough's ladder as flames ventilate through the attic opening.
Firefighters retreat after venting the roof.
Firefighters operate on the ice-covered roof into the second-floor window. At right is then-Firefighter John W. Boland, Jr.
Firefighters Stan Norcross & John Falconi(?) operate off of the aerial ladder in the attic window.
Then-Firefighter Brian Mauro (right) pulls the hose up the ground ladder.
Firefighters feed the hose through the second-floor window. Note the lack of Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus for firefighters.
Firefighter Brian Mauro, Lieutenant George Boothby, Firefighter Stanley Norcross & Firefighter George Mooney operate off of the aerial ladder, feeding hose to the interior firefighters.
Then-Fire Chief Edward F. Brock (white helmet, back to camera) directs operations while firefighters advance a hose line inside of the house.
A view the next day. This house, as well as most built before the 1950s, is of "balloon frame" construction, which means that the walls have openings from the basement through the attic - there are no fire stops. Once fire penetrates into the walls, it travels throughout the structure in voids and into the attic. Fires in balloon-framed houses are the most difficult, as well as labor-intensive to fight.
Photos from Department Files