Canton Fire Department Provides Mutual Aid to Stoughton Fire Department

Canton Fire Department provided mutual aid to the Stoughton Fire Department and responded to a fire on Winfisky Dr. in Stoughton this afternoon. The fire caused significant damage to the rear of the structure, but all five residents home at the time were able to make it out safely, as were the family’s four dogs.

The fire started at 2:01 p.m. on Saturday, March 24 at 49 Winfisky Dr., located in a neighborhood off Bay Rd in Stoughton.

“The first arriving companies had heavy fire and heavy black smoke coming from the home. You could see it from approximately half a mile away,” Stoughton Fire Chief Mark Dolloff said.

“The fire traveled throughout the attic area [and] also through the whole basement area,” Dolloff said. “[Firefighters] had to open up a lot of walls to find the fire throughout the building.”

Dolloff said the fire is under investigation. The cause is unknown at this time. The Chief did consider the house to be a “total loss” because of the extent of the damage.

Dolloff said there were three propane tanks found. “We believe one of the propane tanks may have helped feed the fire, but it was not the cause of the fire,” he said.  

The home is owned by Andrea Cooper, who has lived there with her family since the house was built about 45 years ago, her brother, Burt Peretsky, a Canton resident, said.

Andrea’s son, Arthur Cooper, a Stoughton resident, said his mom is a good person and has gone through a lot of personal loss in recent years. Arthur lived in the house as a boy.

“My mother has already buried my older sister, younger sister, my dad—she doesn’t deserve this,” he said. “All she does is help people.”

Arthur said his mother is taking care of her deceased daughter’s three children and they are living with her in the home. Andrea’s other daughter, Danielle, also lives in the house, along with her son.

Of six total occupants, there were five people in the house at the time of the fire, Arthur said.

Dolloff said all members of the family and the family’s pets were out of the house when the Stoughton Fire Department arrived.

Andrea is a social worker for the Norfolk County Sherriff’s Department, Arthur said. He said his mother has an award in the house given to her by former New York City major Rudy Giuliani in recognition for her volunteer work with New York families following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Dolloff said two Stoughton firefighters—Captain Jim Bertram and firefighter Jack Hurley—sustained minor injuries on scene. Hurley was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Stoughton and both responded. Fire units from Avon, Canton, Easton and Avon also were on the scene. Randolph and Holbrook covered one of Stoughton’s fire stations.

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