Experimentation with Matches Likely Cause of Sunday's Fire

A Sunday afternoon fire that started in a bedroom at 21 Leary Street in Wayland caused minimal damage, but did send two individuals, , to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

said the fire started in a mattress and was largely contained by the residents, though they sustained burns and some smoke inhalation in the process.

There were three people in the home, a property of the Wayland Housing Authority, when the fire started, Loomer explained. The mother, her boyfriend and her son attempted to put out the fire.

The boyfriend was most severely injured, sustaining some second-degree burns on his hands and arms as well as smoke inhalation, Loomer said. The juvenile was also burned and suffered some smoke inhalation, so was also transported. The mother sustained only minor burns and was not transported.

“The fire itself is of no great consequence," Loomer said, noting that it likely caused less than $5,000 in damage and did not affect other rooms of the building. His greater concern, he said, was that it appeared the juvenile had accidentally started the fire.

“We believe that this juvenile was experimenting with matches, and things got out of hand,” Loomer said. He said he didn't anticipate any charges being filed, and added that his main concern was ensuring that it didn't happen again.

“First and foremost [we want to ensure] that the behavior doesn’t repeat itself," Loomer said, adding the fire department had not yet finished talking with the juvenile.

When firefighters arrived on the scene Sunday around 4:20 p.m., they found a partially extinguished fire in the bedroom.

"They [the residents] were actively engaged in civilian firefighting," Loomer said, adding that they were injured because they tried to contain the fire on their own. "Whenever you have a fire in the house, call us. That’s what we’re here for. Call us. Get out.”

Loomer also said that soft materials like mattresses and sofas are "notorious" for hiding fire. It can appear that a small fire on these materials has been completely extinguished when, in fact, it is smoldering and could reignite later.

“Don’t take chances about this stuff," Loomer stressed. "If you have a fire, call us so we can verify everything is ok.”