Dehumidifier May Have Caused Fire at Bay State Road Home in Melrose

A dehumidifier may have caused a two-alarm fire at a Bay State Road home over the weekend in Melrose, according to Captain Jim Winslow.

At 5:35 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 19, Melrose firefighters responded to 297 Bay State Road after a neighbor called it in the fire. The blaze was concentrated to the one-story addition located at the rear of the 2 1/2-story single-family home, according to Winslow.

Malden and Reading firefighters helped battle the fire with Melrose, while Wakefield, Everett and Revere provided coverage at the station, according to Winslow.

"We went into the room where that fire was and knocked that down, and immediately they began looking to see if that fire had extended in the walls. They found that the fire had actually started in the basement in the one-story addition," Winslow said, adding that it took less than 10 minutes to knock down the blaze. "It spread up into the first floor, got up into the ceiling of the one-story addition and got out through the roof through a skylight."

No one was home or injured during the fire; however, a neighbor did rescue an injured dog from the home, according to Winslow. The dog was taken to a local veterinary clinic, he added.

While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, a dehumidifier running in the basement may have played a role in the blaze, according to Winslow.

There was a "fair amount of heat and smoke damage" to the home, leaving it uninhabitable, according to Winslow.

Firefighters cleared the scene around 8:45 p.m., according to Winslow.