A three-alarm fire gutted a multi-family house at 426 Main St. on Saturday, Nov. 19, displacing eight people and sending one civilian and one firefighter to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Reports of the fire first came in at 11:19 a.m. It was not brought under control until 1:30 p.m., and firefighters extinguished hot spots for several hours after that. 

37 Wareham Fire Department members responded to the blaze, which severely damaged the roof and back portion of the house. Three firefighters, armed with axes and a chainsaw and obscured by smoke billowing from the top of the house, climbed in and out using a ladder. According to a Wareham Fire Department press release, Chief John Kelley ordered all firefighters out of the house as “conditions at the scene deteriorated rapidly.

Wareham, Onset, Marion and Carver fire trucks and ambulances arrived at the scene, along with two third alarm chiefs from the Whitman and Plympton Fire Departments. 

“All WFD personnel performed seamlessly with our mutual-aid partners and we greatly appreciate their assistance,” Kelley said in the press release. 

The fire blocked off a large portion of Main Street, from Sew at Seams to CVS Pharmacy, causing heavy traffic on Gibbs Avenue and High Street.

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents. The cause of the fire is still unknown.