Blaze leaves 14 homeless

March 04--LAWRENCE -- A Prospect Hill apartment house that was home to 14 tenants was heavily damaged by an overnight fire Thursday.

Despite aggressive efforts by firefighters, the three-alarm blaze at 25 Kendall St. resulted in estimated $250,000 damage, fire Chief Brian Moriarty said.

There were no injuries and everyone was out of the 3-1/2 story vinyl-sided home when firefighters arrived at 10:45 p.m.

The fire was under control at 1:30 Friday morning, he said.

The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental; it ignited in a second-floor bedroom, Moriarty said.

The American Red Cross immediately began helping the 14 people displaced from the home who lived in apartments on three different floors.

They will quickly need new apartments in the Methuen and Lawrence area, said Deb Duxbury, area Red Cross disaster manager.

Mayor Daniel Rivera said city officials will help the tenants along with Heal Lawrence, a local nonprofit that aids fire victims.

"We will work closely with them so everyone gets the care and support they need in the process," Rivera said.

Flames leaped from the back of the building and heavy smoke filled the neighborhood as firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control late Thursday night.

As a precaution, firefighters evacuated two neighboring buildings Thursday night. Those residents later were allowed to return safely to their homes, Moriarty said.

The home that burned is located in a congested area and now is boarded up.

The home has 3,370-square-feet of living space, was built in 1900 and is currently assessed at $262,100, according to city records. The co-owners are listed as Fior Cepeda and Janet Deleon of Kissimmee, Florida.

Moriarty lauded firefighters for working tirelessly with "aggressive interior firefighting."

"Really, really great work," he said.

Rivera, who went to the fire scene Thursday night, agreed.

"These guys worked really hard and beat that fire back by hand. ... I was very proud," he said.

Rivera said he had an opportunity to speak with the residents who were forced out of the building and personally offered his support. He said they were very emotional, a mix of "really shocked it happened and happy to be alive."

The mayor also encouraged city residents who are living in apartments to obtain tenants' insurance. The insurance, which costs roughly $100 annually, covers the replacement costs of personal belongings in the event of a fire or disaster.

Firefighters from 10 area communities came to Lawrence to assist city crews overnight. Those departments were Andover, Methuen, Dracut, North Andover, Haverhill, Lowell, Middleton, North Reading, Danvers and Salem, New Hampshire, Moriarty said.

The state's Department of Fire Services also sent a "rehab truck" to the scene. The truck, a large command-post vehicle, is used as an area for firefighters to sit and rest and also for investigators to interview victims, Moriarty explained.

Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.

___

(c)2017 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)

Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.