LYNN — After a roughly three and a half hour battle, firefighters knocked down a two-alarm fire at 56 Sachem St. Thursday afternoon.
Police and firefighters blocked off three blocks of Sachem Street around noon as five fire engines and trucks rushed to extinguish the fire in the six-unit condominium building.
At 11:43 a.m., Lynn Fire responded to reports of smoke detectors going off at the building, District Fire Chief Joseph Zukas said.
Smoke flowed through the three-story complex’s roof at 12:02 p.m. as approximately seven firefighters stood on the roof of the complex with axes, attempting to vent the building.
As of 12:30 p.m., flames extended through the right side of the building. Firefighters broke the windows on the building’s third floor, continuing their efforts to vent it.
By 12:52 p.m., flames spread to the building’s front right corner. Around this time firefighters evacuated the building as it became too dangerous to fight the fire from inside with the roof beginning to collapse entirely, leaving the job to exterior operations only, Zukas said.
Lynn Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan said that while there are believed to have been four individuals in the apartment at the time the fire started, all of them had evacuated.
“I believe there were four home at the time,” Sullivan said. “I don’t know if they got out because of us, or if they all self-evacuated. I believe they self-evacuated.”
Sullivan added that he did not, as of 1:25 p.m., know where the fire started, though firefighters initially saw fire in the attic space upon arrival.
“When they got here, they found fire up in the attic space, but I don’t know where it started,” he said. “We’re still early in our investigation.”
The fire was difficult to put out, Sullivan noted, because it had gone underneath the roof, and the roofing material kept water from reaching the fire.
Second-story resident Michael Cordy, whose cat was rescued from the building, said that he was leaving to go to work when he heard the alarms. He said he thought it was a false alarm and took his time leaving, before he saw smoke from the back of the building.
“I was leaving for work and, every so often, the alarm goes off in this building,” Cordy said. “Usually firefighters come and shut it off — I thought it was going to be another routine thing. I actually stayed a minute just to open the door for them [firefighters]. They asked me to open the back door and then that’s where the smoke was.”
Along with Cordy’s cat, two birds belonging to another resident were also rescued. No injuries to residents or first responders were reported.
The Daily Item will provide updates as details arise.
