Woman Killed After Rushing Into Burning Holliston Home Trying To Save Dogs

HOLLISTON (CBS) – A Holliston woman died Tuesday after running back in to her burning home in a desperate attempt to save more than a dozen dogs that were trapped inside.

Firefighters were called to the house on Winter Street late Monday night and found fire in the living room and backyard and flames going through the roof.

Initially, a couple safely escaped the fire. But the state fire marshal’s office said one of them ran back into the house to save the dogs, but most were in cages and couldn’t have been saved in time.

The woman ended up trapped on the second floor. Firefighters found her near a bedroom and pulled her out, Deputy Fire Chief Mark Dellicker said at the scene.

A fire overnight in #Holliston has an entire neighborhood in disbelief. The State Fire Marshal’s office says a couple made it out of the home and then one of them went back in to save animals inside. That person later succumbed to their injuries. @wbz pic.twitter.com/PKevoyq1N0

— Lisa Gresci (@Lisa_Gresci) January 19, 2021

Firefighters took both people to an area hospital, but the woman did not survive. Her identity has not been released.

There were several pets in the house and more than a dozen dogs died, firefighters said.

Neighbors said the couple had dozens of rescue animals.

“She seemed to really love her pets, she took good care of them,” neighbor Kathy Montgomery told WBZ-TV. “I would have done the same thing. I feel for her. I feel for her husband. I’m just devastated.”

Kevin Swanecamp is heartbroken. “She’s always taking the dogs that didn’t have a place to go, a place to stay. That was her life, take care of them, morning, noon and night,” he said.  

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.