(Updated 12/29/25 at 8 p.m.) The early-morning Christmas Eve fire at 28 Woodworth Rd. that claimed the life of 21-year-old Kayla Corrigan appears to have originated at the rear of an attached garage and is “preliminarily not suspicious” according to a Friday morning statement from the state Department of Fire Services.
“Based on an examination of the scene, witness interviews and other evidence, investigators believe the fire began in the rear of an attached garage located at the right side of the three-story, single-family home,” the statement read.
The Needham Fire Department, Needham Police, state police fire investigators assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office and state police assigned to the Norfolk District Attorney’s office are continuing to investigate the fire. They identified “several potential heat sources that could have contributed to the fire, all of which were accidental.”
“Investigators have identified multiple potential factors in the area and will attempt to narrow them down to identify the exact cause,” fire services spokesperson Jake Wark told the Observer via email.
Corrigan was a senior at Syracuse University studying marketing management and was due to graduate this spring according to the school’s website. She was a 2022 graduate of the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. Head of School Jessica Hooper posted a message on the school website saying that Corrigan “was a valued and cherished member of our community.”
A GoFundMe campaign was set up by family friend Amy Lund for donations to support Corrigan’s mother Christa and sister Alyssa. It has so far raised more than $180,000.
Chief says fire was “overwhelming”
Needham Fire Chief Tom Conroy told the Observer his department received a call notifying them of the fire just before 5 a.m. on Dec. 24. Woodworth Road is a private way located off South Street not far from its intersection with High Rock Street.
“Station One was tied up on another call,” said Conroy, so Station Two, located in Needham Heights but equidistant from the scene, responded. Conroy said they were aware upon arrival that only two of the three occupants of the home had safely exited.
“As soon as they got there, they had water on the fire,” he said. “And it was just ripping through the house.”
“The crews made a valiant and heroic attack on the fire in order to reach this person on the third floor.”
Conroy said the incident commander, Deputy Chief Steven Guiney, struck the second alarm which was subsequently followed by two additional alarms that brought equipment from eight other departments to the scene.
Conroy said he arrived on scene and took command approximately 30 minutes after the first alarm.
“The first crews made an aggressive interior attack,” he said. “At some point you’re looking and you’re seeing things weren’t getting better and it becomes untenable. You have to pull crews out. And then we go into a defensive mode.”
“We went from rescue mode to recovery.”
The 6,500-square-foot scale of the three-story house made the fire more difficult to suppress. The fire “got into some void spaces and it got into the attic. It was just a very difficult fire to access.”
“Normally, we can have a fire under control in an hour, depending on the size of it. If it’s a room or content fire, we can get water on it pretty quickly. Here, the attic was going from one end to the other. We just couldn’t get to it.”
Conroy said there was particular concern of the roof collapsing with firefighters inside. The presence of solar panels was yet another concern.
“They hold a leftover charge,” Conroy said. “There’s definitely a fear of getting electrocuted. We have to be very careful about how we work around that.”
He said one firefighter received a shock but was not seriously injured. Several firefighters were treated at the scene, but none required a hospital visit.
“This was overwhelming. It was a seven-hour fire fight. It was a lot.”
Conroy said the other two homes on the private way were not deemed to be in jeopardy. “That house sits on at least an acre of land so we had plenty of room to work and there was no fear of any exposures.”
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