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Published: January 21, 2008 09:01 am
Lawrence fire: Ferocious blaze takes out more than a dozen buildings
Gretchen Putnam
The Eagle-Tribune
LAWRENCE | Almost an entire city block was taken out by a suspicious, roaring blaze that started in a nightclub under renovation at the corner of Market and Parker streets about 2:30 this morning.
At least 14 close-knit buildings were ravaged by flames, sending about 200 residents of 26 apartments into the streets in pajamas, bathrobes and wrapped in blankets.
One person was taken to the hospital with unknown injuries, but those injuries were not believed to be serious. Mayor Michael Sullivan said as many as 380 were affected by the fire this morning.
"The quick response, that's what really saved lives," Sullivan said.
Fire Chief Peter Takvorian described it as the biggest fire to hit the city since an explosion torched the 29-acre Malden Mills factory complex in 1995, injuring 27 people.
State Fire Marshal Steven Coan was on scene this morning and said it was too early to say what the cause of the fire may be, but did describe the blaze as "suspicious."
Also on scene were investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Gov. Deval Patrick was expected to tour the site this morning.
Where it started.
Takvorian said the interior of the nightclub, formerly known as Millennium, had been gutted and was just a large open space. The open building at 44 Parker St., coupled with the wind, created a fire storm across the block, Takvorian said.
"It was like a matchstick," said city Building Inspector Gregory Arvanitis.
Geraldo Torres, 45, of Methuen bought the building for about $250,000 and started renovating it about two months ago. He said he planned to put in a restaurant and bar, with either a Mexican or Italian theme. He and his wife Nereida Trempe had been doing much of the work and had already spent about $300,000 on the project.
However, he did not have insurance on the building.
"We made a mistake. We started renovating before getting insurance," Torres said.
As he surveyed the scene, Torres fought back tears when asked what he was going to do next. "I don't know. We lost everything, my friend. All my hard work is in there. I don't know."
The last time Torres and his wife were in the building was about 7 p.m. on Saturday. They've been working on the building on a regular basis from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. They don't know how the fire started.
Torres said that when they leave every night, they turn off all the power. Looking at the scene this morning, he couldn't believe the devastation.
"There's no way the fire can start there," he said, because the power is turned off every night.
Frigid weather, intense flames
With temperatures hovering around 12 degrees and a windchill making it feel colder than zero, firefighters had to battle freezing water valves but only one frozen hydrant.
But with the ice, there was fire | flames so hot it melted one side of a fire truck. Takvorian said firefighters turned the hose on Engine 9 at the corner of Parker (Route 114) and Springfield streets to cool it down.
Water running from the site turned the roads into skating rinks. Thick ice formed on firefighters and their clothing as they tried to knock down the fire.
"I stayed warm because I was close to the fire | there was plenty of it to go around," Takvorian said.
Another problem was burning embers flying in the arctic winds, landing as far as quarter-mile away on Farnum Street. At 5:15 this morning, Takvorian said he was concerned about homes on Springfield Street and repositioned trucks to that area.
First on the scene
"It was like something out of a horror movie," said Officer Robert Moody, the first patrolman on the scene.
Moody was flagged down by 2:30 a.m. by workers in an ambulance just down the street. When Moody arrived, he found one building engulfed. The fire quickly spread throughout buildings located on the corner, including several multifamily homes. Two buildings were commercial buildings, and they were completely destroyed.
Takvorian said one of his deputies arrived on scene just as the fire broke out and found two buildings on fire. He realized his car was too close and by the time he backed up his car the fire had spread to five buildings. Takvorian said buildings were only six to eight feet apart.
As many as seven multifamily homes were on fire about 4 this morning, said Lawrence Police Sgt. John Duschame, the second officer on the scene. He and his colleagues ran door-to-door on Market Street, getting to homes just before the fire started to make its way down the block. They had to force some of the doors open to alert sleeping residents inside.
"Everybody was in their pajamas and socks," said Duschame, who has been a police officer in Lawrence for 15 years. "I was fast moving. It was the biggest fire I've seen since Malden Mills."
The evacuees and their loss
Evacuees were moved to a makeshift Red Cross shelter at nearby Jackson Lumber until a permanent shelter could be found.
Evacuees were moved from their homes down the street to a Red Cross truck set up at Jackson Lumber. Other evacuees were moved in city buses to the Cor Unum Meal Center, only a half a mile from the blaze. They waited there until the Red Cross opened up a permanent shelter at South Lawrence East Middle School.
At 5 a.m., the flames had jumped to a tenth building. By 6 a.m, there were 14 buildings on fire as emergency workers fought to save one multiunit home on the block.
One of those buildings housed nine mentally disabled people. They were all evacuated safely and taken to the Red Cross shelter. Also consumed were three homes built by Habitat for Humanity.
Paul Reddick owns Lawrence Pumps, a business that employees 130 people, right next door to the fire. His building was not affected and many of employees showed up to work today but he sent them home. His company donated the land for the Habitat homes and described it as "heartbreaking."
Firefighters were brought in from 12 communities including Salem, N.H., Tewksbury, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Reading, Andover and Middleton.
Several roads including Route 114 were shut down in the area throughout the morning.
Investigators were talking to one witness who was stopped at a red light at the corner of Market and Parker streets about 2 this morning. She told investigators she heard a "popping noise" like gunshots and saw the tarps on top of scaffolding blowing. She did not see flames or any one leaving the building.
Arvanitis said that he stopped by the site on Friday and that nothing looked suspicious.
"We were just in here on Friday, everything looked really good," Arvanitis said.
Salem, N.H. firefighter Kevin Blais, who had been trying to save a home on Market Street since 2:45 a.m., arrived at a station set up for firefighters and police to get food and water around 6:30 a.m. with his gloves coated in ice. Blais had to slam his jacket on the cement to break the ice that froze it solid.
"I wish that it would be over," he said.
Staff writers Courtney Paquette and J.J. Huggins contributed to this report.
Published: January 21, 2008 11:04 am
Lawrence fire victims: Nothing left, no where to go
Courtney Paquette/Staff Writer
LAWRENCE Terry Crawley, 42, ran out onto Parker Street dressed in nothing but a terry-cloth bathrobe, matching navy blue socks and slippers.
His 52 Parker St. apartment was one of the first buildings the flames jumped to and quickly devoured. He had been sleeping at the time, told to get out by a firefighter banging on his door.
"I just ran right out," he said, and looked next door to see a building in flames. "It was very scary. A big ball of fire. Like somebody had doused some gasoline on it and lit a match."
He was brought to a city bus, wrapped in blanket and sipping a tiny cup of hot chocolate courtesy of the Red Cross. About 5:30 a.m., the bus brought him to the temporary shelter set up at Cor Unum Meal Center, a half a mile from the blaze.
He didn't know what he would do next.
"It looks like the whole building is gone," he said.
That same story was echoed over and over again by the 180 people who lost their homes in a fire that reduced 26 apartment units to piles off ash.
Fast asleep, people were awaken by firefighters or police officers or neighbors banging on their front doors. In several cases, police officers had to knock down doors to wake people up, as the fire jumped fast from triple-deckers packed tightly together in the neighborhood.
They didn't have time to take anything with them. And in the end, they had nothing left, and so many had no where to go.
"I went to the window, and it looked like hell outside," said Elias Rivera, who escaped from 16-18 Springfield St. with his stepdaughters and his wife. He was waiting at Cor Unum for a shelter to open.
At 12 Springfield St., Jannette Ayala, 19, and her boyfriend Louis Taveras, 29 were awoken by their landlord Santos Acevedo.
Ayala ran into to her children's room, where 2-year-old Jeremiah and 1-year-old Naimam were sleeping soundly. She lifted the children from their cribs, bundled them in thin, worn-out comforters, ran out the door and boarded the bus to the shelter.
"I went to the kids' room and I could see the fire," Ayala said. "I didn't even get their shoes on."
They doubted anything was left of their home.
"It's burning now," Ayala said.
She had no idea where her family would go. Just as she said that aloud at Cor Unum, Jannelle Bois, 66, of Lawrence, a cook at the shelter came over.
She offered to take them in until they found shelter. She said she ran a day care and had five grandchildren, so there would be plenty of clothes for the kids, and even some toys for them to play with.
"I don't know them," she said. "I'm doing it because I like to help people."
Help was something people everywhere were ready to provide.
People had a hot meal, warm blankets and even clothes because two workers at Cor Unum | Rita Jensen and Sandra Sharpe | arrived at the soup kitchen for a typical day's work at 4:45 a.m. They looked out the window to the block just beyond the bridge and saw the sky ablaze. They ran down to the fire and told Red Cross workers to start bringing people to the shelter. They'd cook for them.
"We couldn't just stand here," Sharpe said.
Family members and neighbors who lived streets away rushed to the neighborhood to help.
Victor Cruz was sleeping in his Foster Street home and smelled fire. He left his home and ran out onto Parker Street, where he saw the buildings ablaze.
"I was sleeping and I smelled fire. Now, I see fire all the way to the alley, Cruz said as he watched the abandoned building where it all started collapse under the flames. "I started waking people and knocking on doors."
Several of those whose homes were destroyed took shelter with family members.
Tara Mays and Mendessa Barthelmy went to 270 Market St. to help evacuate Barthelmy's sister Desiree, her husband, Robert, two children, and the family dog. Mays is the family's niece. Both women could see the fire from their homes.
Knowing that her family lived on Market Street, the pair ran from Beacon Hill Road to see if they could help them get anything out. Mays said she saw people running out of their homes with no shoes on and jumping in their cars to get as far away from the fast moving blaze as they could.
"It was already too late" to save anything, she said.
As they stood in middle of Parker Street in the pre-dawn hours, they watched as fire devoured the Market Street home.
Young Robert, 13, said he and his father Robert Sr. were up late playing on their new computer. They heard a boom and ran to the window to see the building two doors down from them ablaze.
"We just got the computer on Saturday," young Robert said, as he watched his home burn down.
Published: January 21, 2008 11:32 am
Lawrence fire: How to help
LAWRENCE | Coats, pizza, coffee and sandwiches. Within hours, the people of the Merrimack Valley and beyond were ready to help the some 200 people affected by yesterday's blaze.
But more is needed. It will cost the Merrimack Valley Red Cross about $88,000 to feed, clothe and shelter the victims until they are able to get back on their feet.
To help this endeavor, The Eagle-Tribune has re-opened its Santa Fund to raise money for the Red Cross. All the money raised will go directly toward helping the families.
Donations of food and clothing were already pouring in by 10 a.m. to help the families as well as those firefighters, police and emergency workers who spent hours knocking down the fire | as well as keeping it from spreading.
Members of the Manchester chapter of the Boston College Club were gathering coats and clothes for the evacuees. The club helped the 26 families who were left homeless by a five-alarm fire on Lake Avenue in Manchester on Jan. 17. Now, they're ready to help out Lawrence.
Pronto Pizza and Sal's Pizza donated dozens of pizzas to feed the firefighters and police officers. Burton's Grill in North Andover sent sandwiches, cheeseburgers, french fries, soups and salads. Area Dunkin' Donuts sent countless boxes of Joe and cups, doughnuts and munchkins.
Anonymous good Samaritans dropped off boxes of doughnuts and pastries in a large camper police and firefighters used as a command post. Food was also dropped off at the makeshift shelter set up at the South Lawrence East School.
Donald and Kelly Frazier brought coffee and donuts to the fire scene at 4 a.m. Later, they ferried pizza and sandwiches for area restaurants back to the fire scene.
Sharon Birchall, police Chief John Romero's girlfriend, and former City Councilor Marie Gosselin manned the command center all day, encouraging cold and tired police and firefighters to take a break.
"We just wanted to make sure everyone was kept warm with coffee and fed," Birchall said.
Angel and Glenys Mendez of Lawrence heard about the fire on the news and wanted to reach out to the victims. So they enlisted the help of their 6-year-old son, Josias, and their 5-year-old daughter, Gleanys, and gathered things they no longer need.
They walked into the Red Cross shelter at South Lawrence East Middle School with plastic bags full of clothing and games yesterday afternoon.
"We need to come together as a community," the father said.
For others who are looking to help, it is best to donate money, said Jamie Devlin of the Merrimack Valley's chapter of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross can use money to give the victims vouchers to buy things they need, like food and clothing, Devlin said.
"Really what we need the most is financial donations," Devlin said.
Two ways to donate
Cash donations can be made to either:
The Eagle-Tribune Santa Fund
Donations can be dropped off or mailed to:
The Eagle-Tribune Santa Fund
100 Turnpike St.
North Andover, Mass. 01845
Donations are accepted in cash, check, VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express.
Phone: 978-686-8688
The Merrimack Valley Red Cross
Donations may be mailed or drop-off at
177 Ward Hill Ave.
Ward Hill, MA 01835.
Phone: 978-372-6871.
Web: www.arcmv.org
Published: January 25, 2008 12:00 am
Cleanup of fire site now top priority for Lawrence
By Jill Harmacinski , Staff Writer Eagle-Tribune
LAWRENCE - City leaders want to work closely with property owners and insurance companies to have a fire-torn block of the city razed and cleaned up within the next 30 days.
Mayor Michael Sullivan yesterday called the blackened block of Parker and Market streets "the number one priority for redevelopment in the city."
Sullivan also is planning a large-scale press conference next week to thank the hundreds of police officers, firefighters and volunteers who have worked tirelessly since Monday morning's blaze. By then, he also hopes to announce the city has received federal disaster assistance to help 200 residents left homeless.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, Sen. John Kerry, U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas and Gov. Deval Patrick all sent letters to the Small Business Administration yesterday requesting disaster assistance for the city.
The cause of Monday morning's fire that destroyed 14 buildings remains under investigation. One person received minor injuries in the fire.
"We are working on a couple of things but nothing has materialized," police Chief John Romero said yesterday.
A task force composed of police, firefighters, state troopers and federal agents is trying to pinpoint the cause. The fire is considered "suspicious," but officials have not said publicly they suspect arson.
The fire is believed to have started in the former Millennium nightclub at 34-44 Parker St., which was being renovated into a restaurant with apartments. A city inspector found an illegal propane heater being used there last week. Work at the site also was shut down a year ago after several fire hazards, including scrap wood being burned in a 55-gallon drum, was found inside.
Detectives are expected to be done collecting evidence from the site by early next week and Sullivan said he'd like to see redevelopment of the area start immediately. He suggested area property owners could pool together insurance money to clean out the site.
"We are hoping to get together the different owners and see how the city can assist them," Sullivan said.
The Fire Department does not believe any hazardous materials are currently at the site. Also, just a single pet required assistance after the blaze. One dog who survived the fire is being boarded at the Andover Animal Hospital, police said yesterday.
The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Methuen, after learning of the fire, offered shelter to any displaced animal. However, as of yesterday, no one had taken the shelter up on its offer.
"We are always willing to help with any pets in an emergency situation," Mike Kieley, an MSPCA spokesman said yesterday.
It's unclear when the city will know if it receives disaster assistance from the federal government. Lawrence is asking for a Small Business Administration declaration, which is similar to a disaster declaration but for loss on a smaller scale.
Should the city qualify, residents and small business owners would be eligible for loans to help them rebuild in the area.
In order to qualify for the loans, the city would have to show that at least 25 businesses and homes have been significantly impacted and 40 percent of that loss is uninsured.
The money would then be made available through the Small Business Administration. If the money becomes available, renters could be eligible for loans up to $40,000, homeowners up to $200,000 and business owners up to $1 million.
The press conference will be next Thursday at 2 p.m. at Lawrence Pumps, a business right next to the fire scene. Sullivan said he anticipates more than 200 people will attend.
Staff reporter Jill Harmacinski can be reached at 978-946-2209 or by e-mail at JHarmacinski@eagletribune.com.
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