Thursday, 4:30 PM
Practicing Braintree firefighters cut holes in wrong house
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)
A work crew in Braintree finished boarding up holes in a roof on Harrison Avenue today after the fire department used the wrong house for a training exercise.
By John R. Ellement and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff
A training exercise for the Braintree Fire Department may have taught some unintended lessons Monday when firefighters chopped several holes in the roof of the wrong house.
The white Victorian-style home on Harrison Avenue looked abandoned with knee-high grass and burn marks from an electrical fire last year. However, the house has belonged to the Luu family since the 1980s, and they were preparing to renovate the structure.
The family did not give the fire department permission to use the house for training, Clayton Luu said today in an interview. In fact, the Luu family did not learn about the mishap until after the large rectangular holes had been cut Monday in the roof and the garage door.
"I'm not that mad," Clayton Luu said. "The house is damaged and needed renovation."
In a statement, Deputy Fire Chief John Donahue said: "The matter is under internal investigation. As soon as we have a complete report it will be released to the press."
Since the fire in the family home last year, the Luus have been living in other places while they repair the damage, Clayton Luu said. A contractor working for the town called the Luus to tell them they needed to board up the holes made during training for the fire department, he said.
"Now we have to completely renovate the whole place," Clayton Luu said.
"Hopefully the town" will compensate the family, he said. "They made the mistake. They will have to pay for it."
