Only in New England…
A Milton, Massachusetts homeowner learned the hard way that battling winter with a blowtorch is not exactly a life hack. After last week’s brutal Northeast storm left sheets of ice glued to his roof, the man decided to take matters into his own hands — and straight up torched his house instead.
Climbing a ladder with a blowtorch in hand, he tried melting the ice himself. Within minutes, flames shot across the roof, raced through the gutter, and began eating their way into the attic, according to Local 12.
He managed to jump off the ladder and dash inside to call 911, but by the time firefighters arrived, the entire attic was already blazing.
Neighbors told reporters the whole roof went up in minutes. Milton Fire Deputy Chief John Earner said crews initially thought the flames were contained to the gutter… until they ripped it off and saw the attic fully engulfed.
Freezing temperatures — stuck below 32 degrees since Winter Storm Fern hit on Jan. 25 — only made the blaze fiercer. Fire crews battled both ice and fire for hours before finally getting it under control.
Earner’s advice to the public: leave the rooftop defrosting to professionals. “Don’t get hurt. Don’t go up on your roofs,” he told Local 12.
Miraculously, no one was injured, and the fire didn’t spread to nearby homes.
Meanwhile, as the cold snap drags on, people across the Northeast are getting creative. In New York City, a squad of hockey look-alikes even huddled up in Greenwich Village for a “Heated Rivalries” contest — proving winter chaos comes in many forms.
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