LYNN — Red Cross spokeswoman Kat Powers often sees people on the worst days of their lives, but she had to smile Monday when she walked into the Brickett School and saw a woman feeding a survivor of the fire hours before: an 11-year-old macaw named Luca.
When Powers arrived at the Brickett at about 7 a.m., she saw a large yellow parrot with “a lovely, lovely woman feeding him orange slices.”
The resident was able to get Luca out of an apartment by wrapping him in a blanket and popping him into a laundry bag, Powers said. For now, Luca is being housed in a large dog cage provided by the city.
As firefighters work to piece together the cause of the fire that ravaged 145 Lewis St., about 40 residents temporarily housed at the Brickett School were trying to piece together their lives.
“More than 70 people lost their homes; we’ve met with about 40 of them,” said Powers, communications director for the Red Cross.
Churchilina Rivas planned to spend Monday night in the Lynn shelter with her 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter after the blaze drove her from the apartment she has lived in for three months.
Awakened by an alarm, Rivas opened her apartment door and grabbed her children as smoke billowed into the apartment. Once outside, she gave her son her coat and pulled off her socks and handed them to a barefoot boy she spotted on Lewis Street.
“There were flames, smoke, people running, crying and getting crazy,” Rivas recalled.
Robin Newton sought shelter in Peabody with her sister even as she agonized over the whereabouts of her cats, Mocha and Lucky. She yelled for the two Siamese as she fled down a fire escape from her second-floor apartment.
“I heard someone yelling and saw flames coming from the roof,” Newton said.
School officials gave Brickett Elementary students the day off, allowing the Red Cross to use the basement in the school next to the burned building as a temporary shelter not only for residents but also two dogs and Luca.
Children showed their resilience and played basketball, but several adults sat quietly alone, simply trying to come to grips with what had happened, Powers said.
Third-floor residents were told their apartments were a total loss, but first- and second-floor residents were escorted back into the building one by one to retrieve anything salvageable, Powers said.
“I met a woman who managed to get her husband and her mother’s ashes out of the building, and her husband’s camera,” she said.
Building owner Andrew Perkins searched its Lynn residential building inventory Monday and reached out to other landlords to find housing for 145 Lewis’ tenants, said Perkins representative Brian Sollosy.
“We will relocate as many tenants as we can,” Sollosy said.
Residents outside 145 Lewis St. were also asking Powers who they could help. Angel Rundstrom, who witnessed much of the early morning fire, said she wanted to do whatever she could. Powers said the Red Cross has already partnered with the Salvation Army and anyone looking to donate clothing or household items should head there. The local thrift store is 10 Munroe St. or contact Captain David and Major Marika Payton at the Franklin Street office at 781-598-0673.
“And we would love to have volunteers in Lynn,” Powers added. Just go online to www.EasternMassRedCross.org and they can start taking classes right online.”
Red Cross uses volunteers to handle social media, work the food pantry and to do things like show up at a fire scene in the middle of the night and hand out blankets.
Powers also said those affected by disasters shouldn’t hesitate to call either. Her office offers services beyond blankets, clothing and helping people pull together rent money but often people they don’t realize what they need until later.
“A lot of folks, when there is a fire, just run ”¦ they jet from the fire and think I’ll figure it out later,” she said. “We have mental health workers, we have health workers. Lot’s of people need more ”¦ it’s really frightening.”
As for Luca the macaw, he ought to be around for a long time to come: Experts say the normal life expectancy of the species is 50 to 100 years.
Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected]. Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
