Midday Fire at 12 Vernon Street Sends 21 Firefighters to Norwood Hospital-August 8, 1974

Heavy Smoke and Fumes from Burning Insulation and Aluminum Siding Overwhelm Mutual Aid Crews Battling $16,000 Blaze

Twenty-one firefighters were treated at Norwood Hospital yesterday—primarily for smoke inhalation—following a fierce midday fire at 12 Vernon St. that caused an estimated $16,000 in damage. The blaze broke out in the basement shortly after a 10:31 a.m. alarm and raced rapidly through wall partitions into the attic. Fire officials reported that crews were severely overcome by toxic fumes from burning building insulation and dense, trapped smoke intensified by the structure’s exterior aluminum siding. Billowing black smoke filled the nearby downtown shopping district along Washington Street, drawing dozens of spectators at noontime and slowing passing traffic.

Before crews arrived, office tenants threw records out the windows to save them, while occupants escaped uninjured alongside the property owner, Mrs. Mary Bateman, who lived in the second-floor apartment. The building has a storied local history, having formerly served as the Eastman Funeral Home and the Vern Inn years prior, and survived a previous major fire that gutted the structure in October 1963 before it was renovated into office space. Mutual aid crews from Westwood, Walpole, and Canton rushed to the scene alongside a general alarm recalling all off-duty Norwood firefighters, with the all-clear finally sounded at 3 p.m.

Among the injured personnel treated and released from Norwood Hospital were Chief William J. Barry Jr. (noted as treated for smoke inhalation alongside other reports), Deputy Robert Stanton, Lt. Michael Benedetti, and Firefighters William Joyce, James Maroney, Robert Abely, Thomas Gover, Kenneth Groh, Hamlin, Michael Hogan, George Foley, Paul Narbut, John Fanning, Robert Dalton, Wally Hayes, Charles Harukewicz, Goldie Williamson, Michael Foley, Peter Ameriault, Mary Henry, and Bert Hohman.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger