Swampscott blaze leaves 13 homeless, snarls traffic

SWAMPSCOTT – “I have nothing left,” sobbed Paula Singer Wednesday as she lamented losing her apartment in a two-alarm Humphrey Street fire Tuesday night that left 12 other residents and a half-dozen business owners without stores and homes.Singer, her fiance, Michael Rappa, and fellow tenants made it safely out of their upper-floor apartments shortly after 11 p.m. when fire broke out in 128-140 Humphrey. Singer had time to tug on jeans and a sweatshirt over her nightgown and grab shoes and her dog, Wally.”It happened so fast. We ran down the stairs. Everyone was yelling, ‘Get out, get out,'” she said.Police warned commuters this morning to expect delays and detours with one lane on Humphrey open inbound to Lynn.The fire burned well into Wednesday afternoon, forcing police to detour morning commuters down Greenwood Avenue toward Monument Avenue and Paradise Road. Heavy, wind-blown smoke forced the Hadley School to close. It remains closed today.”That was on my recommendation. We’ll assess the situation throughout the day in consultation with the (school) superintendent and police chief,” said Town Administrator Andrew Maylor.Fire Chief Kevin Breen said the first arriving companies found heavy fire in one of the first-floor businesses.”They started making the fire attack and, at the same time, advanced lines to the upper floors,” he said.Firefighter Kevin Clark received minor burns fighting the fire and returned to work after being treated at the scene by Action Ambulance personnel.Fire crews poured water on the building throughout Wednesday while a contractor slowly dismantled it with heavy equipment. By 5 p.m., a rubble pile was all that remained of the structure.Fire investigators had not pinpointed the blaze’s cause as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, but Breen said the fire may have started in the 100-year-old building’s basement.”The behavior of the fire was such that when crews made their way to the second floor they opened walls and ceilings and immediately found fire. A lot of times that says the fire started in the basement,” he said.Raina Morgan learned her salon was on fire Tuesday night in a text message from friends.”We are all devastated,” said the Revere resident who also owns Raina’s Salon Studio on Broadway in Revere.Morgan said she opened her Humphrey Street salon three years ago and employed two stylists who will go to work in the Revere salon.”I loved it here with the view,” she said.Other businesses destroyed by the fire included Sea Side Cafe, Peter’s Tailoring, Giovannucci Brothers. Inc. Construction, Jessica’s Nail Salon and a drapery and upholstery business owned by Lynn resident Irma Jiminez.Morgan said one of her salon clients is scheduled to be married on Saturday and had left her wedding dress and her mother’s dress in the tailor shop for alterations. Bryan Giovannucci said the business files and computer he lost in the fire were not as significant a loss as tenants’ personal belongings.”It could have been a lot worse,” he said.Building owner Jayne Orloff of Marblehead said her mother bought 128-140 Humphrey “on a handshake” 40 years ago. Orloff said she is close to her tenants, including 30-year resident Dale Dooley, who she put up at her home Tuesday night. Other tenants were assisted by the American Red Cross.Orloff said she has reached out to town officials and the Chamber of Commerce to discuss ways to assist her residential and business tenants. She said she hired a building alarm company more than a month ago to improve the building’s alarm system.”The company brought the entire building up to code,” she said.Maylor said a town-organized clothing drive to benefit tenants is under way.The fire left Singer, a 24-four-year Dana Farber employee, and Rappa, 25, looking for a new apartment even as they continue planning for a June wedding. She is staying with her parents in Melrose.”I’m so happy I’m alive but I stayed in bed all day crying,” she said Wednesday.