He took his phone outside and called the fire department. Then he waited outside for firefighters to arrive.
“I thank the fire department,” he said. “They saved the biggest part of it.”
MacWilliams had been working outside his Shaw Road home in Springfield West Wednesday afternoon. “I came back over here and smoke was coming out of everything,” he described the scene.
He knew his phone was in a back bedroom, so he covered his face and went to find it so he could call for help.
“Oh, it was terrible, couldn’t see,” he said, describing the thick smoke.
O’Leary fire chief Blair Perry said his department was dispatched at 3:30 to a structure fire. As is practice when there is a structure fire, West Point also rolled. O’Leary responded with a full complement of 28 firefighters and West Point answered with 15.
“We got here and we met the homeowner in the driveway,” said Perry, indicating they were able to determine no one was inside the structure.
MacWilliams said he wasn’t able to rescue his cat, Fluffy nor any of his belongings from his home. The cat perished in the fire.
Perry said the basement area of the home plus the inside of the north wall sustained extensive fire damage and there was heavy smoke damage throughout.
Deputy fire marshal John Chisholm was still on the scene Wednesday night trying to determine the cause of the fire.
MacWilliams said he will wait for the fire marshal’s office and his insurance company to decide whether the house he built in 1981 is salvageable. He rented the house out for 15 years and only returned to it about four years ago. Since then he has carried out renovations to the home.
MacWilliams said he would take refuge Wednesday night with his brother before deciding on temporary living arrangements while his home is repaired or replaced.
