So many negative comments about how horrible that fire department is... too long to respond, firemen just walking around slowly, etc. FYI - that is a small, rural town, and the nearby fire departments are all volunteer or paid/on call, and they probably all responded from their homes or jobs. They don't have the manpower, equipment or training that full-time fire departments have. Give them a break. There are many, many rural communities all over the U.S. who are in the same situation, because the make-up of the rural areas don't have the tax infrastructure to support what larger towns and cities are able to provide.

I live in a small town in southern Germany. One morning I drive through town on my way to work. I thought the chimney in a house smokes heavily though. When I looked more closely, I noticed that the roof truss was on fire. I stopped immediately and called the fire department. I immediately rang the bell at the house and was able to wake up and rescue 15 people. I was a fireman myself and knew immediately what to do. Some people don't dare to intervene or they just don't care. Even worse they film everything. In Germany, the filming of accident victims now costs a fine of €300.

This gave me chills. Seeing that glow in the window, almost unnoticeable, quickly become an all consuming devastation so powerful you can hear the sizzle from the surveillance video, is just chilling.

OMG: I didn’t realize it happened so fast. My brother was a volunteer fire fighter. Available at a moments notice, wherever he was. Unpaid!! Thank you to all firefighters around the world. 😊❤

A 66 year old woman and the home's two pet cats were tragically lost in this fire. From what I read in a shorter video, the woman who rolled out of the home at the beginning of this was screaming mom, it was her mother. My mom is the same age and she is everything to me, truly my entire world. I wouldn't be able to go on another day if this happened to her.

The poor girl screaming "Mom" broke my heart. Especially when the fire starts getting obscured by the smoke, and she starts to lose hope and gets quiter.

10 minutes from the first possible 911 call (a car slowed down, they possibly noticed and called) to the first water on the fire. That's an amazing response time. Our local FD volunteers are likely up to 7 miles from the station and cover about the same distance. So that's 911 call, dispatcher relays info to FD, FD seems out the alarm to all volunteers, they stop what they're doing, maybe even have to get dressed, get in their car, haul ass up to 7 miles to the fire department, get in gear, get on the truck, haul ass up to 7 miles to get to the fire, drop the hose... as I said, 10 minutes is amazing. When you're sitting here watching it from first flame, yeah, it seems painfully slow, but it's the best anyone could possibly do.

I can't imagine my mother being in that house... I just can't. That's terrible, a person who's guided you your whole life, being lost in such a terrible way...

You may be correct but in saying it took 10 minutes to arrive but that’s 10 minutes after the fire was first visible in the lower corner window The fire wasn’t visible to the exterior until 2:30 assuming no one called it in from the inside of the house this would be the first time it would be noticeable Assuming someone called it in at that point subtract a minute to 2 minutes to take and dispatch the call Then you’re down to 6 minutes Subtract a minute to minute and a half for dressing and turning out your down to 4-5 minutes and 5 minutes travel time from the station to the scene Theres 10 minutes I’d say they did an excellent job responding The fire department can’t control how long it takes to get notified nor can they control the distance that they have to go to get to the scene

Unbelievable video capture. Its very rare to observe a fire from the very beginning of the event . The vantage point is perfect, with audio as well , unbelievable. That deck gun was a game changer on this one.

The black Jeep is my car. We were driving past in Miller’s to go to the bridge. When the tone dropped we went right past it, not knowing what it was. Apparently it was an old woman who smoked and had an air tank. The air tank exploded which resulted in a fire. We did not even know that there was a fire there If you look very closely, it started just as we drove past

It made me cry to see the woman on her knees screaming and crying for her mom. So tragic.

I love how people just band together in these situations to help. RIP to the woman and animals that lost their lives.

It's scary how fast a fire can go from a little flicker to an raging fire in under 10 mins!

Nah i cannot believe how many people drove by that BRIGHT RED FIRE and didnt dare to stop to even call 911 or knock on the door....

My Son is a Fireman . This is so sad and scary at how fast the fire takes off.

5 minutes from ignition to fully engulfed is the average time according to one of my lessons awhile ago at my fire department. This video really supports that concept, it used to be 30 minutes in the 80s or so for refference. All these synthetic materials burn really well, it's scary how much worse it might get in the future.

It is just unbelievable how many people actually rode by that house and never seen nothing with the smoke and fire showing. I just seen where somebody was actually in the house my heart goes out to the family and friends such a tragedy. God bless you

Thanks to all the volunteers who put their lives on the line to help others 🙏

As a Mom about to be 66, I can't imagine what the daughter and family went through! God rest her soul! Only positive thing that came out of this is the video!

I had a house fire over 20 years ago, and still this video makes me cry...it stays with you forever ....my heart goes out to all involved

The women tried to save her mom. She kept screaming " Mom!!!" This is tragic. God bless this family.🙏🙏🙏

I would never put down a volunteer fire company or a payed one. The only question is the first truck to arrive has a deck gun. Our town is all volunteers and the first thing they do when hooking up is use the deck gun. This house went up pretty quick and they did a good job getting it under control. Thanks for sharing ✌️

It’s honestly so cool to see how firefighters do their job, see what their jobs are when they’re on scene.

All the people that ran towards the house to help are heroes

The delivery workers are now super heroes! They know their routes and always are willing to help. Thanks UPS guy.

If anyone is complaining about the response time of the fire department a quick Google search gives the answer. People are saying it took the fire department way too long. I am putting the first 911 call at 4:43pm on the time showing in the video. From the time the phone rang until the dispatcher answered and got all the information was probably 45 seconds, then when the dispatcher dispatched the call to the closest fire house and the bell went off at the station probably took another 45 seconds. So we are at a minute and a half. The firefighters had to stop what they were doing then run to the truck, maybe another 30 seconds, then they had to get into their turnouts, which the goal is to get into them in under 30 seconds. So we are at 2 minutes and 30 seconds. You can see the first fire truck to pull up says Turner Falls on it. From the exact address of the house to the fire station in Turner Falls is 3.3 miles away, Google is saying the drive time is 6 minutes. The fire truck pulled up at 4:50, which is 7 minutes after the first 911 call. That's a damn good response time.

I love how the guy decides to save his boat while the fire truck is moving in.

I used to live in Miller's Falls , it's a very small town and the closest other FD is 10 min away outside of the volunteers. These homes are very old and fire is detrimental very quickly. My condolences to the family who lost their loved one and the animals. 😭🙏

This video reminds me of an experience I had driving my school bus down a residential street back in 1976 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was just after I had dropped my high school kids off and I spotted smoke coming out under the eaves of a one story home. I stopped but everyone else was just driving by. I ran up and opened the side door to the neighbors house where a car was in the driveway and I see a guy sitting there nonchalantly drinking his morning coffee. I told him to call the fire department as the house next to him was on fire. I asked him if he knew if anyone was home as I ran back outside. He didn't know so I quick looked in the attached garage to see if there were any vehicles but there weren't any. I then kicked a locked entry door to the house open but as soon as I did thick smoke poured out and I could hear the fire picking up with the influx of air. I yelled got no response and closed the door but noticed clear air under the smoke. I guess I could have crawled under if I heard someone. I then ran back next door and got the neighbors garden hose and sprayed some water where the smoke was coming out under the eaves, of course that was worthless. The fire department got there probably about 5 minutes after the call. I handed the neighbor his garden hose said he might want to soak his house down. As I left I saw one fireman charge out of the fire truck with an axe to break out the windows, while others uncoiled hoses and a couple others geared up to go in. I was now a few minutes late for my elementary school pickup so I took off. Later returned after my run to tell the police that I was the one that kicked in the side door. Guess no one was home thankfully.

This is sad. I lost my dad at 18 years old right before I graduated high school (he had lymphoma) but losing someone from a house fire is a lot worse. More memories are just straight up gone. My heart hurts for this family

Who ever owns that security camera please share a link of where to buy one

This is why I installed commercial fire alarms in my house, heat detectors, photoelectronic smokes and 2 manual pull station by front and back door, got some horn strobes and strobes installed as well, my condolences go out to her and the fam!!

My house burnt down June 4th last year. It was an electrical fire. It started in the kitchen behind the wall behind the stove. I lost 3 pets and everything I had. Lost my car because the fire was so hot that it melted the front right side. Prayers go out to this family. I’m so sorry for their loss. I know how it feels watching your life burn to the ground. 😭

Awesome response time for a volunteer department. In my area it’s generally 15-20 minutes depending on where you live in the county. Ambulance can be as long as 40 minutes.

The response time was great. I worked on a Rescue Squad with 24/7 station Manning, response time from tones to the farthest part of our ground was nearly ten minutes. This looks like a rural area with probably a volunteer department which makes the response time impressive. I now live across the pond in rural Wales and the response time to my neighbour's house when it was on fire was about 22 minutes.

This is so eerie that it showed up tonight of all nights. This just happens to be the 4 yr anniversary of the night me & my husband went out to dinner and where almost home when we got a call that our home was on fire, our dream home with our 4 yr old female lab inside. It was fully engulfed by the time we arrived with fire dept in tow, who had been given the wrong address. Wasn't there fault but was still hard to see so many firefighters just standing in our yard doing nothing. But again not their fault. They all felt horrible and took up money for us and the next week brought us $5,000 that was much needed and so appreciated we both broke down and cried. It's been 4 yrs and it hasn't gotten any easier yet, feels like it was yesterday. My heart goes out to this family. 🙏

They deserve alot of credit tons of it let's stop and honor and appreciate the paramedics and firemen and police who proudly serve us your service and time and efforts are deeply appreciated thanks great job great team work and great and sweet catches as usual still going strong let's stop and hope everyone is doing ok right much love and respect and appreciation job well done you should be amazed and proud way to go thanks !!! Joe ❤😂😂

I have a weird childhood memory from when I was in kindergarten. I was driving with my grandpa through a neighborhood and we noticed smoke coming out of someone’s basement windows. He said something about a smoke detector and I don’t know if anybody was home or not. But that was that, I don’t remember whatever became of that, but I do remember seeing fire trucks blazing by later that day. It’s just something that’s stuck with me for almost 30 years that I will never know the full details of.

In the space of about half an hour that entire family's life went from likely normal and peaceful, to being completely torn apart, by some unstoppable force of nature. It's humbling but also horrifying

Every neighborhood has one shirtless guy who knows everything

Woah - I have an office space just down the street from here. I saw that they were building on this lot and didn’t know this was why.

This is terrifying. My sincere condolences to the family of the woman who lost her life. 🙏

What a tragedy! My the woman rest in peace. God bless the people who tried to rescue her. The fire moved so fast. Shame on all the people who drove by the house at first and ignored the smoke and flames.

I Iike that they got around to using the deck monitor eventually. I wish more departments would use them as part of their initial attack, they are so good at knocking down a lot of flame fast but so under utilized. Nice job fellas

My heartfelt condolences to this family on their loss🙏🕊🙏...Thank you to the first responders in their efforts to keep the fire from advancing to neighboring properties! 🇺🇸❤

Wow! That was a stubborn fire. I asked my son who is a fire captain here in our moderately sized city about why they just walk around like that. He said that they have to follow protocol and must listen for instructions from the captains and fire chief, not run around like a bunch of keystone cops. You only see the frenzied “heroes” running in to the burning structure, explosions and all on shows like Chicago Fire. That’s not reality. I’m so sad to hear about the woman and her pets that didn’t make it out. Truly a tragedy.

Thank you for sharing. It's amazing how many cars didn't notice until it was engulfed.

Just looking at this in 2024. That video is superb as far as clarity

It took that UPS person stopping to approach that fire ... nobody else was even headed over there 😢

My heart goes out to the family that lost their mother in this horrible fire. It took a long time for bystanders to see the fire and alert the home.

Start of video is 4:40 to 5:05 the response time was pretty good considering it's a small rural town. The negative comments usually come from people that don't know what they are talking about.

So if people are mad watching this because the FD took so long to get there. By CAR the drive is 6 minutes long, firetrucks go over the speed limit so that's about 5 minutes from the Turners Falls Fire Department (first firetruck on scene). The firefighters in the area are volunteers meaning they need to get dressed, haul ass to the fire station, get in their gear, get in the truck then drive to the scene. Millers Falls area is a rural area. That whole part of Massachusetts is. In reality they responded and got there VERY quickly. I checked the news for this fire and found that the Turners Falls Fire Department MIGHT'VE not been the only department to respond. I'm from the area and believe if more than 1 department responded then the next closest one is Greenfield (A town over from Turners Falls), which from there the drive to the fire is about 14 minutes. "Brunelle told Western Mass News the home appears to be a complete loss and crews from his department, along with several other communities, were on-scene for upwards of ten hours attempting to put out the flames" I suggest if you want more information about it just search the title of the video the town, type of fire and the date.

It's crazy how fast that fire became so intense, so quick! And why is that guy standing on the sidewalk recording someone's life going up in flames!?!? Literally! I can see maybe filming the fire department extinguishing the fire but to stand there from the beginning is So disrespectful if you ask me...

Just wanted to say I am grateful to our firefighters and especially grateful to our small town volunteers. We have needed them a couple of times in the last 35 years we've lived here and they have been there for us. For anyone who just drives past the volunteer toll collectors that come out on holidays instead of giving them a dollar just remember these small town emergency personnel might be the ones who save your life when you go off the road.

This video is a great example to show in real time how fast fire can spread throughout a frame house. There’s no doubt that the house had modern day furniture in it as well. There was a demonstration showing how quickly a living room flashover can occur with modern day furniture as opposed to old vintage furniture (1950s or earlier). It took the living room nearly 30 minutes to flash over with old furniture and 3-4 minutes in the modern furniture living room. 30 minutes after the start of this video (from when the flames were not even noticeable) the entire house was already charred both inside and out and the fire fighters were spraying at the hot spots that were still on fire. I could not believe how fast the fire spread. The materials in that house were like fuel in a solid form.

Let’s just give a moment of silence to remember and respect the ones involved in this tragedy thank you to all that helped 😢

I hope everyone made it out, I went through a fire when I was ten, we lost it all. We struggled for a long time living in a hotel room for six months. A family of five, my dad finally found a place to rent, life eventually got better but it took a long time. My dad was so stressed out I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack, This was in the early seventies and things were much different back then, no property insurance or Red Cross to help you out.

That Fire flashed before anyone noticed it. Smoked only appeared after the fire flashed and used up all the oxygen. There was no saving that structure. I’m a firefighter and if any of us ran in full turn outs and a tank at academy the instructor would scream at us. The gear makes us top heavy and we’d be tripping all over the place if we run, plus we can’t see the ground with a mask on. We move quickly and carefully. So learn something before you rip on the FD.

The simultaneous blasting of air horns is a almost universal message for any firefighters in the house to get out as conditions have turned terrible and most likely deadly

I feel bad for the person losing their mom and pets. That's the saddest thing to go through, and me and my cat Cuda lived through 2 apartment building fires before too, I always made sure I grabbed my Cuda first thing both times, as well as alerted the friends I had over, despite my self losing everything, everyone got out safe. My thoughts are with the family and survivor.

So tragic. I accidentally set fire to my childhood home in early December of 2002. We were beyond lucky. No loss of life or massive structural damage. I applaud the firefighters for their quick response and effort. Things could have ended a lot differently that night.

I have watched many fire videos. For a rural volunteer department they and the help from other towns did a fantastic job of getting the fire under control. And I can't believe they kept the house next door from catching fire also. Great job guys and thank you for your service.

Commendations should be given out for everyone who tried to help at the beginning. Even the UPS driver stopped and could have easily kept going and ignored the situation. For the comments who say it was a slow response etc. I suggest you step up in your community and volunteer. Every community with vol fds need help. Sad it was a fatality .

My heart goes out to the family of the 66 yr old woman who was lost in the fire. I lost my mother end of 2021 to suicide, it's devastating to lose a parent at any age, esp when it was sudden and unexpected. May she be at peace and the family slowly start to heal their hearts.

I'm so glad all those angels of people came to the rescue and all took the time to work together.

From the Millers Falls Newspaper, the RECORDER: "MILLERS FALLS, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - One person is dead and a family is without a place to live after a two-alarm fire ravaged a Franklin County home Tuesday night. “To know that everything that we had, including my mom, is gone, it’s just, it’s pure torture,” said Tina Verscot. Verscot was at her home in Millers Falls on Tuesday afternoon when tragedy struck. “Smelled electric, you know, that electrical smell that you smell and I said to my husband or maybe it’s behind her bed because, you know, a little bit of smoke, so I grab the fire extinguisher. He sprayed it, nothing. Open our door to go down the stairs and big black smoke just hit us,” Verscot added."

This is how fast a fire spreads very rapidly this is why you need smoke Detectors in each room and have a monitored fire alarm that notifies the fire department as soon as the smoke starts because seconds makes a big difference please make sure your smoke Detectors have batteries and consider getting a fire alarm that is monitored by alarm company.

My heart goes out to this family. This was so sad to watch as the fire progressed, with the woman running back inside too! The house was already fully enveloped in flames when Fire/Rescue arrived, so given that, I think the fire department did an outstanding job, from the fast arrival time, to getting the fire under control, to preventing further damage to the surrounding properties. RIP to the person who lost their life.😢

Respect to those who actually stopped to try a wake the owners, shame on those who drove past, respect to the fire brigade aswell.

The fire spread so quickly, I can only imagine how scary that would have been

If you live in a house, make sure each floor has a smoke detector, which actually talks to the others too. So if there is a fire in the basement, and you are sleeping on the second floor, you will still be woken up by loud noise. Most house are hardwired, if not get a battery operated ones which still talk to others, even have wifi. Skip a few restaurant meals, invest in smoke detectors.

Job well done.. by everyone involved.. even to the people that beat on that front front door to rescue someone. Was born and raised in an area that only had volunteers each person were top notch !! Hats off to you all.. it actually could have involved other structures , but they knew what needed to be done to guard against that.. 🙏🏼 🇺🇲

That escalated very quickly left shook

The negative comments come from the fact that that fire was obvious and no one was stopping but when the neighbors noticed and started going on over there everybody wants to stop in rubberneck. I mean I really can’t even believe the negligence of the entire neighborhood driving by. I would’ve stopped at the first sign of smoke and called the fire department. I don’t wanna live in that neighborhood

RIP to the lady and pets lost. And my condolences to the daughter that came outside but couldn't reach her mother inside. Really shouldn't have gone back inside at that point, but I understand fully why she did. Hard to watch everything that you know in your life going up in flames. Your home, your memories, and your family... I hope she has awesome friends who can help you through the hard times ahead. Wasn't her fault that her 66 year old mother didn't make it. If she had gone into the house further, it's unlikely that she would've made it out herself. Any word on the cause of the fire?

It’s unbelievable to me how many cars just kept driving by, especially when smoke was billowing out the damn window. The house went up so quickly, it’s like they built it out of matchsticks. That poor family, it must have terrifying.

🎉all firefighters firefighters are superheroes 🎉

Just watched this terrible event my deepest condolences go out to the family... For those saying the fire department took way too long to respond if you take the time to look at when the call was made by lady saying she had phoned 911 which was around 3 minutes into the video to the actual time the first engine arrived it was around 6 minutes response time as a UK resident I imagine fire department's been a fair way away with you having large towns I would say that is one hell of a fast response time.

I can’t believe how many drivers went past & ignored it !! I’d be hammering on that door incase someone was inside .. terrifying how quick that went up

ups man and the other people that tried to help are heroes. And the firefighters are to. R.I.P.

What did the person at 5:51 do at the right front corner? Looks like the threw an accelerant on the house.

This is so tragic.. literally people driving through smoke before the fire was visible and not stoping to help at the very least to notify residents neighbors

Amazing how fast it went up! I noticed MANY DROVE BY...only the UPS guy noticed and STOPPED!

I'm sorry the young lady lost her mother! I lost an aunt in a house fire in Ocean Springs, Mississippi in 2014. I learned about it at my employer in Fort Worth, Texas. RIP to the Mother.

Such a tragedy and my heart goes out to everybody involved. God bless. I would like to know what security camera system is recording this? Its a clear video with sound.

Thank God for the brave man across the street standing there, filming everything on his phone.

RIP lady who didn't get out

Condolences to family and friends😢💔🙏 Respect to the firemen ❤

The amount of cars that just drive by is just astounding and disconcerting….well to be completely honest they’re in their own little world of a bubble until it got big enough and the smoke cleared enough for them to snap out of it and bang on their door.

This reminds me of the time where I was 6 and I had a dream about a house fire next door and I said "I looked outside and saw big smoke"

This is so sad, a couple with their 6yr old son lived here, along with the woman's mother, a 66yr old lady, the couple smelled electric cords burning smell, then went downstairs and the whole thing was full of flames, they barley got out and was hardly able to save their 6yr old, but sadly, the mother(66yr old lady) died in the fire! Very sad story!!

Rest In Peace to the woman who sadly passed away and her cats. This is a horrible fate for anyone.

I find it amazing that a lot of people stopped to see if anyone was in the house and to help

My gosh I pray for this family. I live about ten minutes and I remember when i heard the call over the scanner. Tragic and very sad for everyone around.

Woww! From the time it was a flicker seen through the lower right front window (and who knows how much was already burning inside at that point) to being almost fully engulfed when the first responders got there - that fire acted fast!

Thank you for sharing 2nd video. Camera clarity and sound is amazing. Great home security. 🙏 prayers for your neighbors

Wow that went from 0 to 100 fast almost like an accelerant was in there!

This is so heartbreaking. Fire moves very quickly. Every minute feels like an hour waiting for help to arrive. I am very sorry for the loss.

I used to live in Millers falls. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. Turners falls is around 15 to 20 miles away. That is why it took the backup units so long to get there.