LYNN — Nine people were displaced and two cats died after a fire ripped through a three-family home on Clarendon Avenue Monday afternoon.
Second floor resident Jeanette Ward was home and didn’t realize what was happening until Lynn police officers started banging on the door and shouting that the building was on fire.
“I thought it was a joke,” said Ward, 57, who was sitting across the street with her 6-year-old Australian cattle dog, Samantha, and surveying the damage to her home of 10 years.
Visibly shaken, Ward said she didn’t know where she was going to stay for the night.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said. “This is a nightmare.”
Fire Chief Stephen Archer said Ward was the only resident home at the time of the electrical fire, which appears to have started on the third floor of the building.
Eight other people, including two children, live at the home. All residents without somewhere to stay are being placed by Red Cross.
Archer said fire crews were notified by Lynn police officers on routine patrol, who saw heavy flames in the neighborhood. Crews responded to 62 Clarendon Ave. at 2:45 pm and had the fire knocked down 15 minutes later, he said.
“Crews did a tremendous job knocking it down quickly and saving the rest of the house,” said Archer. “It was a very good stop.”
Investigators have determined that there were no working smoke detectors throughout the house, Lynn Fire Capt. Joseph Zukas said.
The matter has been referred to the department’s Fire Prevention Bureau, which will ensure the owner complies with the state smoke detector law. There will be no other action taken, as the fire has been deemed accidental, Zukas said.
The fire department stressed the importance of working smoke detectors. If the fire had broken out in the middle of the night or if a Lynn police officer hadn’t noticed the flames, the outcome could have been a lot worse, Zukas said.
There were no injuries to residents or firefighters, but there were two casualties. Firefighters carried out a cat from the third floor and CPR was administered, but the animal did not recover. The other cat was already dead, Zukas said.
“I think it’s terrible,” said Rita Simard, a neighbor and friend of Ward’s. “It’s so scary. You lose everything that you have in there. That’s what’s upsetting her.”
