Fire destroys three-story School Street residence

LYNN – A pre-dawn fire ripped through a three-story residence on School Street Thursday, totally destroying the building and a collection of antiques stored on the first floor.
The initial alarm was rung at 2:38 a.m. and was soon elevated to a working fire requiring a second alarm, which brought six fire engines and three ladder trucks to the scene.
District Chief William Curran said owner Stephen Sklavounos, lived on the second and third floors of 43 School St., but was not at home when the fire broke out.
By 3 a.m. the building roof and chimneys were threatening to collapse. Firefighters were still at the scene after daybreak, knocking down hotspots.
“The building was a total loss,” said Curran, noting that the mansard roof with slate tiles made fighting the fire more complicated. “From what we were told, the owner was the only person living there.”
There were no reports of firefighter injuries. Fire Lt. David Legere, head of the department’s arson squad, accompanied by an investigator from the state fire marshal’s office, had difficulty entering the woodframe building because of the collapsed roof and chimneys.
“Right now the cause is undetermined. We think it started in the kitchen on the first floor,” Legere said. “There was a rear exterior door found opened and unexplained. The landlord told us he always kept it dead-bolted.”
Legere described the fire load as “absolutely incredible,” referring to the amount of furniture and other combustibles stored on the first floor. “The firefighters had trouble getting near it.”
Legere noted that the local utility company confirmed that the natural gas supply to the building had been shut off “a long time ago,” prompting questions about how the single occupant heated the structure.
The building next door, also owned by Sklavounos, was undamaged. However, the tenants were evacuated during the fire.
Curran said the landlord told investigators the first floor was used for storage of antiques.
The fire-gutted building will likely be demolished, Legere said.