Fire kills woman; 4 grandchildren saved
WHITMAN - Neighbors and town officials mourned a 73-year-old woman who died when flames swept through her house early yesterday, even as they hailed the baby-sitter who rushed the woman's four grandchildren to safety.
Helena Drass, her grandchildren, ages 6-11, and their babysitter were asleep when the fire broke out at 1:10 a.m. inside the Newland Drive home. Medical oxygen tanks quickened the blaze, officials said.
The babysitter, whom authorities did not identify, evacuated the children and called 911, but was driven back by the two-alarm fire when she tried to rescue their grandmother.
"She truly is a hero. If she hadn't made the quick decision to evacuate the children when she did, this would have been much worse," Fire Chief Tim Grenno said in a statement. "I give her a lot of credit for having a solid head in a time of crisis."
Rescuers were unable to reach Drass, and her body was found in a back bedroom on the second floor of the wooden structure, fire officials said. Drass's daughter was out of town for the night.
"The fire was so intense -- it did more damage in 10 minutes than most fires do in 30 minutes," Grenno said.
The babysitter and a firefighter suffered minor burns and were treated at Brockton Hospital. They were released this morning.
Crews from Hanson, Abington, East Bridgewater, and Brockton helped fight the blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal and the Plymouth district attorney, but it does not appear suspicious, officials said.
Fire officials said the smoke detectors were not functioning in the house at the time.
The Drass family is well known in the South Shore community. Helena Drass was the mother of a Whitman police detective, and neighbors said her late husband was involved with the town's auxiliary Fire Department many years ago.
"She was a kind person," said her nephew Bill Flemming, 42, who lives on the same street. "She wasn't in the best of health the last couple years."
Grenno said the town's public safety workers were offering support to the family. "The members of my department and the Police Department know the family well and did all they could do to rescue Ms. Drass," Grenno said. "It saddens us the outcome couldn't [have] been different."
The fire caused $80,000 in damage to the house. The Red Cross responded to the scene to assist the displaced family.
The last fatal fire in Whitman occurred on Thanksgiving Day 2000, in which a state trooper, his wife and his mother-in-law perished in a blaze that may have been caused by a space heater, Grenno said.
