Lynn fire debris removal slated to begin next week

LYNN – The owner of the Lewis and Chestnut streets site of a Jan. 14 fire will begin removing debris from the lot next week.City Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan said Henry Nguyen is seeking estimates for removing the pile that was once a Chestnut Street apartment building and adjoining structure at 221 Lewis St. The buildings were home to 20 tenants and occupied by five businesses.”Right now that pile is frozen solid. We should see something going on next week,” Donovan said.The multi-alarm fire destroyed the adjoining building housing a hair salon and clothing store and damaged the larger building, prompting city officials to order the buildings razed.Fire inspectors were initially told the fire may have started in the 221 Lewis salon after someone failed to shut off an electrical appliance. Arson investigator David Legere subsequently spoke with the salon owner who said no one was in the shop on the day of the fire.”We’ve got conflicting accounts of someone being in there. We think it was accidental but we just don’t know what started it,” Legere said.Debbie Baclet lived above the salon and clothing store and rushed from work that day to find her home ablaze. Her dog died in the fire but Baclet said her son’s English High School classmates and teachers have helped her.”Any help at all, they were there for us,” she said.Baclet has been living with her mother and plans to go to the building site next week to see if she can salvage any of her possessions once workers begin removing debris.The fire left two other salon owners and San Francisco Market owner Francisco Lora, as well as their employees and other tenants, without jobs or a place to live.The Lewis fire was the second in a week to destroy a local building. A multi-alarm fire in an apartment building at Burrill and Seymour avenues Jan. 9 left eight people, including children, homeless. Donovan said owner Osarumwense Omorogbe was ordered by the city to tear down the building by the first week of March.Initial reports on the day of the fire indicated a natural gas explosion may have started it but Keyspan utility representatives discounted the reports. Legere said investigators have ruled out gas as the source of the fire but the building’s basement continues to be the focus of the investigation.