Fire ravages Lynn home

LYNN – A three-alarm fire ripped through a Victorian home on Hamilton Avenue shortly after 3 p.m. Friday, sending a firefighter to the hospital.The unidentified firefighter, who has been with the department for four years, was taken to Mass. General Hospital in Boston where he was listed in serious condition.Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy was at the scene.”Our thoughts are with the firefighter and his family,” she said. “We hope he makes a speedy recovery.”Fire Chief Dennis Carmody said the second floor of the three-story yellow-painted wood house at 44 Hamilton Ave. was fully engulfed in flames when Ladder 1 and Engine 1 arrived on the scene.The flames were already spreading to the third floor and live power lines had snapped and were laying across the street. “It quickly went to three alarms,” he said. “The first crews to arrive had to watch out for the wires on the street. That was a danger.”A large crowd gathered to watch the drama unfold. Nobody was home at the 44 Hamilton Ave. address, but the adjacent house was evacuated. “We had to evacuate the house next-door because there was a danger of the fire spreading,” Carmody said.The chief said heat exhaustion was a factor because of the day’s 80-degree temperatures. “We had to rotate the crews,” he said.Mutual aid included Saugus Fire Department companies that responded directly to the scene.Ambulances were standing by with water, fans and lounge chairs.”We let the new recruits go in to do the overhaul,” said Carmody, referring to the task of ripping down plaster ceilings and opening walls with long-shaft hooks after the fire has been extinguished to ensure no hot spots are still burning.