Gas explosion eyed as cause of Lynn fire

LYNN – Acting Fire Chief James Carritte said an explosion in a natural gas line may have ignited the three-alarm fire at 9:14 a.m. Friday at 60 Burrill Ave.”There was some kind of explosion but we can’t be sure until we investigate,” Carritte said.Several residents at home in the triple-decker at the time, including children, escaped unharmed.”I got my grandmother’s ashes, my aunt and my little cousin and we left,” said third-floor resident Reggie Peral, 13.Peral lived with Ligia Martin and two other children ages 12 and four. The 12-year-old was not at home when the fire started.Second-floor resident Elizabeth Noyola was getting dressed when she smelled smoke. Her two children, ages 15 and five, were in school.Firefighters said eight people lived in the building. Ten others live in neighboring 58 Burrill, which was exposed to heavy smoke and spraying water but did not catch fire.Click here to see a photo gallery on Friday’s fire.Firefighters closed off Burrill and Seymour avenues and sounded a second alarm shortly before 9:30 a.m. as smoke billowed out of windows and holes in the building. Peabody firefighters provided mutual aid support to Lynn crews pouring water onto the building. Anxious neighbors converged on the intersection off Lewis Street to see if the fire was spreading to their homes.Carritte said firefighters who entered the building’s basement found blown gas pipes. Utility crews shut off gas to the building and National Grid workers shut down electrical service in a several block area bound by Kiley Playground and Lewis Street.”Our major concern is water on the wires and anything collapsing on them,” Carritte said.By 10 a.m., six Lynn engines and ladder trucks converged on site along with Peabody, Salem, Swampscott and Marblehead equipment and crews. Firefighters from other communities provided mutual aid at stations around Lynn while local firefighters fought the Burrill blaze.Firefighters extinguished the main body of fire by 11:30 a.m. but continued blasting the building, now roofless, with jets of water. Police diverted traffic headed up Lewis toward Swampscott down Chatham Street. At about the same time, fire crews were called to a gas line break at Barrett Court and Boston Street. Carritte said several buildings were evacuated for about an hour while fire and utility crews determined the break’s location and made sure gas detection levels were safe.City assessing records list 60-62 Burrill’s owners as Am Eng and Mara Sok and indicate they acquired the property in 2003 for no purchase sum. Fire investigator Donald Baron said he spoke to a man who identified himself as the building owner and said the property is in foreclosure proceedings.”He said he was giving it back to the bank Monday,” Baron said, adding the man said the building was not insured.National Grid crews were working as of 3 p.m. to restore power to homes around the fire site. City Inspectional Services officials were evaluating the building’s structural condition to determine if it should be torn down. Carritte said several feet of water will have to be pumped from 60 Barrett’s basement before the fire’s cause can be pinned down.