One person is dead after a fire engulfed a house on Walnut Street, the Newton Fire Department reported Sunday afternoon.
Sunday morning, around 8:30 a.m., firefighters responded to calls about a duplex on fire at 1243 Walnut St. and found heavy fire roaring outward through the first-floor windows.
After discovering there were people inside, firefighters went in through the front door and found a man on the first floor, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Our hearts go out to the family who lost a loved one today,” Mayor Ruthanne Fuller and Fire Chief Gregory Gentile said in a joint statement. “This is the third fatal fire in our community since December. We want to urge all our residents to have working smoke alarms on every level of your home. And if you hear those alarms sound, please—get out, stay out, and close the doors on the way out.”
Another resident escaped without injury. And residents of the other side of the duplex also made it out safely.
The fire was put out within about 30 minutes. A firefighter’s gear sustained thermal damage from the heat and flames inside the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Newton Fire Department, Newton Police Department, State Police fire investigators assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office, and State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.