By MES Dispatch staff
The Briefing
• A house explosion and resulting fire in Taunton, Massachusetts, seriously injured a 25-year-old mother and her 2-year-old child Wednesday morning.
• Firefighters responded to the three-family home on Plain Street at about 9:50 a.m.; the structure was fully engulfed when crews arrived.
• The injured woman was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and the child to Hasbro Children’s Hospital for treatment of severe burns and serious injuries.
• Eight residents were displaced; two adjacent homes also sustained significant fire and heat damage.
• State police fire investigators and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal’s Office are assisting local fire authorities with the investigation.
TAUNTON, MASS. — A house explosion Wednesday morning left a multi-family home engulfed in flames and seriously injured a woman and her young child, fire officials said.
Taunton Fire Department and police responded at about 9:50 a.m. to a reported explosion at a three-family residence on Plain Street, finding the structure fully involved in fire, according to local authorities.
A 25-year-old woman was transported to Rhode Island Hospital with severe burns, and a 2-year-old child was taken to Hasbro Children’s Hospital with serious injuries, officials said.
Eight residents were displaced by the blaze, and two neighboring homes sustained extensive burn and fire damage, Taunton fire officials reported. No firefighters were injured during the response.
Fire investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Massachusetts State Police and the Taunton Fire Department are working together to determine the origin and cause of the explosion, with preliminary inquiries ongoing, authorities said.
Extreme winter weather and deep snow from a recent blizzard presented additional challenges at the scene, officials noted while urging residents to avoid the area.