A home on Magnolia Drive in Gloucester’s Holly Springs subdivision was destroyed in minutes last Wednesday when a fire broke out and quickly spread throughout the house.
The occupant of the house had walked to the nearby corner to meet the school bus, and when she returned home with her child, it was on fire, said Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad Assistant Chief Jon Williams.
Williams said the call came in at 4:16 p.m., and by the time the first unit arrived on the scene at 4:23 p.m., the structure was fully involved. While firefighters were able to knock down the flames in under 30 minutes, they couldn’t save the house.
A video of the incident taken by a neighbor showed the fire spread from just a few flames visible on the first floor at 4:15 p.m. to a home fully engulfed at 4:18 p.m., he said.
Williams said that two dogs were in the house when the fire occurred, and one was found deceased afterward. He said the other was thought to have possibly escaped through an open wind...