Needham firefighters douse flames, meet Will Ferrell

Imagine Needham firefighters’ surprise when, while responding to a fire on Thanksgiving Day, they encountered actor/comedian Will Ferrell. “He was standing on the front lawn along with the rest of the family until we had the situation under control. And then he went back in the house,” Needham firefighter Rick Laborne told Channel 7 Friday, admitting he was a bit starstruck. “He’s one of my favorite actors.” The fire, which apparently started in a garage, was extinguished within 30 minutes. “Afterwards we were telling [Ferrell’s] wife, I believe, there are a lot of big fans and everything. So she goes, ‘I’ll bring him out to take pictures,’ and it was a little too dark outside, so he invited us in to the family kitchen,” Lieutenant Peter Cosgrove told the TV station. Said Laborne: “It was definitely a highlight for me. It was probably one of the coolest calls I’ve ever gotten.”