PHILLIPS — Woodrow Rose awoke to his wife’s screams and ran outside to find flames spreading across the ceiling of an enclosed porch Tuesday night at their Phillips home.

He grabbed a garden hose and started dousing the fire while tearing at flaming wooden boards with his bare hands. His wife, Tina, and their two young children stood on the lawn and watched the frantic attempt to save their two-story home.

Dozens of firefighters responded to the family’s emergency 911 call reporting the fire around 9:15 p.m.

Armed with fire hoses and other equipment, firefighters ripped out the porch’s ceiling boards and some of the attached home’s walls, where the fire had ignited insulation materials, Chief James Gould said Wednesday, recalling the initial scene and his conversation with the Roses

The fast-spreading fire was extinguished within about 30 minutes but had caused significant damage to the porch and a section of the home, Gould said.

Woodrow Rose burned and cut his hands in the fire and was taken by ambulance to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, where he was treated and released, Gould and a hospital spokeswoman said.

The family is staying with relatives nearby and plans to repair the fire and smoke damage to their 19 Dodge Road home, which was insured, Gould said.

Gould believes old electrical wiring in a porch light malfunctioned and caused the fire, which started while the family was inside the home, he said.

Tina Rose smelled smoke and noticed the fire before waking up her husband, Gould said. He didn’t have details about where the family was staying Wednesday.

Fire departments from Strong, Kingfield and Salem Township assisted at the scene. No injuries were reported and about 40 emergency responders assisted.

David Robinson — 861-9287

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