House Fire on Ashmont Road

A Wellesley Police Officer, enroute to a traffic detail, discovered a house fire late Monday afternoon. 

At approximately 3:57 PM, Monday November 26, 2012, Officer Rick Weaver was enroute to direct traffic at the intersection of William Street and Route 9 when he noticed an unusual orange glow in the sky.  As he started down Dunedin Road in his cruiser to investigate, he saw flames shooting out of the ground floor of a one story ranch house at the end of Ashmont Road.  Ashmont Road is a dead end street which borders woods and is located near the Needham town line.

Officer Weaver radioed for assistance and then began checking the house for occupants.  With the help of a passing FedEx delivery person, Officer Weaver forced entry into the house.  He immediately encountered a blinding smoke condition as heavy, overlapping fire came out of the garage area and into the first floor where he was.

Moving beyond the fire, Officer Weaver began checking all the bedrooms in the house, trying to locate any occupants.  One of the bedrooms was directly over the main body of fire, and despite the intense heat and smoke, Officer Weaver pushed through near zero visibility  conditions and searched the room completely.  Only after searching the house again to ensure he didn't miss anyone did Officer Weaver evacuate to safety. 

The Wellesley Fire Department arrived a short time later and extinguished the fire.  There were no significant injuries from the blaze, which brought help from the Weston Fire Department and Newton Fire Department to the scene.  The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Officer Rick Weaver is a 37 year veteran of the Wellesley Police Department.  He normally works in the Dedham District Court as the Wellesley Police Department's prosecutor. 

Officer Weaver is set to retire from the Wellesley Police Department in a few weeks.