Crime & Safety

UPDATED: Four-Alarm Fire Tears Through Waverley Ave. Home

Newton Fire Department confirms one fatality.

Updated 4:08 p.m. Bunker Hill Community College issued the following statement on the death of Beth Deare, who was one of the school's associate professors:

“The entire Bunker Hill Community College community mourns the tragic death of Professor Beth Deare. She had worked for more than 15 years in the College’s English Department and was a very passionate and engaging professor who was greatly admired by her students. She was also an award-winning film maker known for chronicling the black experience in America in numerous documentaries. For her work as a film producer, she won 13 Emmies, 1 Peabody and international awards. We extend our deepest condolences to her family and friends.”

3:15 p.m. issued the following statement this afternoon in response to this morning's fire:

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"I would like to thank the emergency responders, in particular the Newton Police and Fire Departments, for their outstanding work in responding to this morning's tragic fire. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's family during this difficult time."

1:42 p.m.  Captain Mark Heitman confirmed Beth Deare as the single fatalty to the overnight fire. The department estimated Deare was in her mid 50s, but could not confirm an age. 

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10 a.m. As neighbors and onlookers huddled in the snow, the State Fire Marshal arrived on scene with a K-9 hoping to determine whether the missing tenant is in the charred building. State Police are also on scene.

The blackened upper corner of the house is a stark contrast to the falling snow, while the lower half of the Victorian-style building remains relatively untouched by the fire. 

8:50 a.m. Crews with the State Fire Marshal are on scene at 56-58 Waverley Ave. as fire and rescue workers are cleaning up and searching for one tenant of the home that is still unaccounted for.

As of 7 a.m., all fourth-, third- and second-alarm companies were given the OK to return from the scene and the local department was working to reopen many of the roads and intersections it had blocked off overnight. 

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A four-alarm fire tore through a 140-year-old home on Waverley Avenue early this morning.

The fire, which started on the second floor of a home at 56 Waverley Ave., was reported over the scanner as a second alarm just after 1:30 a.m. One person was rescued from the home.

One tenant in the house is still unaccounted for and crews this morning are on scene searching for the missing person.

The Newton assessor's database lists the two-family home at 56 Waverley Ave. as having a fiscal 2011 assessment vaue of more than $1 million. The database says the home was built in 1870.

According to scanner reports, the fire was knocked down shortly after 4:30 a.m., however, a fourth alarm was activated for manpower. As of 6 a.m., crews were still on the scene of the fire working. 

Stay tuned to Newton Patch for updates on this story. 

Ted Pendergast and Stephen Walsh contributed to this report.


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