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Octogenarian couple thankful to be alive after fire destroys home

MALDEN, Mass. – A Malden home was destroyed by fire earlier this week, but the residents all got out safely thanks to a pair of police officers who saw the smoke from several blocks away.

Eighty-Six-year-old Midge Hammersley was inside with her daughter, grandson and great-granddaughter at the time.

“My daughter come up the stairs and she said ma get out there’s a fire,” Hammersley said.

One of the police officers, a rookie, helped pull the octogenarian to safety.

“She said we have to get out because there’s a fire and we have to get out now,” Hammersley said.

>>PREVIOUSMalden police officers help elderly residents escape burning home

As she grabbed her coat and pocketbook, her 86-year-old husband Arnie, a retired Malden firefighter, was just coming back from the store and saw the fire.

“I was so excited, I seen the house and it was mine. It was awful,” he said.  “They were all out, but I didn’t know that.”

The couple, married 61 years was reunited and everyone got out safely.

Unfortunately, the house a total loss or so the family thought.

“A firefighter came out of the house with the only item salvaged at the time, and that was dad’s badge,” Paul Hammersley, the couple’s, son, said.

After the dust had settled, Paul went back and found his his parents' wedding rings in the rubble.

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