Harsh weather and high winds brought a series of fires Sunday night into Monday morning throughout the North Shore. Homes and woods caught fire in Lynn, Peabody and Salem, as the weather and water pressure issues made it difficult for firefighters to combat the flames.
In Lynn, a two-alarm fire tore through a vacant single-family home on Linden Street early Monday morning, with firefighters working overnight in harsh winter conditions to contain the blaze.
Less than six hours after that blaze was finally extinguished, another one broke out at a second Lynn home on Essex Street. In that instance, 17 people were displaced and six cats had to be pulled from the building, one of which was revived by firefighters.
Firefighters responded to the fire at 41 Linden St. at 1:51 a.m. Monday, it was declared a working fire at 1:54 a.m., and by 2:02 a.m., a second alarm had been struck.
“The house is almost totally destroyed,” said Lynn Fire Capt. Joseph Zukas. “Unlivable.”
The building was empty at the time of the fire and there were no injuries reported.
Zukas said there was heavy fire in the front of the building.
The fire department fought the blaze for more than four hours until 6:14 a.m., when it was finally knocked down.
“The cold weather, the ice and the wind were the hardest things to deal with,” said Zukas.
Another two-alarm fire in Lynn began in the kitchen of a triple-decker home on Essex Street Monday morning and was quickly extinguished, according to Fire Chief Stephen Archer.
“Our guys got in there and made a really nice stop,” said Archer. “They knocked it down very quickly before it could spread.”
At least nine engines were on the scene at 545 Essex St. by noon Monday, along with police and EMS.
Archer said the fire appeared to have started in the second-floor kitchen of the building and was contained to that area. There were no reported injuries.
Seventeen people were evacuated from the building, with many congregated outside to watch the fire crews work. Several of the displaced residents held cats in their hands with one man holding three cats wrapped in blankets.
According to Archer, six cats had been pulled out of the building. He said one cat had been put on life support and was resuscitated.
“One of the cat owners was very concerned about his cats, but we were able to rescue them,” said Archer.
Lynn resident Maritza Rodriguez, whose cousin lives in the building, rushed to the scene when she heard about the fire.
“My cousin had four daughters in the house,” said Rodriguez. “Thank god they were able to get out.”
A fire started in the woods behind the Walmart on Highland Avenue on Sunday around 6 p.m., eventually spreading overnight toward Spring Pond in Peabody, spanning about 100 acres.
The Peabody and Salem Fire departments and Massachusetts Forest Fire Control worked through the night to control the fires spreading throughout the wooded area by the strong winds.
District Fire Warden Andrew Regan was on scene near Spring Pond in Peabody, at the end of Sunset Drive, and said that he was called to the fire Sunday night and was there until around 2 a.m. Monday.
“We had it held but then there was a wind shift this morning, which caused the fire to jump the line,” he said.
By late Monday morning, Regan said the fire seemed to be contained, but predicted that they would stay there for the remainder of the day.
“That could change though,” he explained. “As soon as the wind shifts direction, that could change.”
A Peabody resident on scene, who declined to give his name, said that his parents saw smoke at approximately 10 p.m. Sunday before seeing the fire progress.
“It’s really windy and all you’re smelling is smoke,” he said.
He said that he rode his bike over Monday morning and it looked like the wind was just making everything worse.
Regan said that while no formal investigation has been done, his best guess was that an unattended campfire was the cause.
Firefighters were seen using water hoses and shovels on the affected areas of brush. Regan said that they were not using a lot of water, since it was difficult to get water hoses into the deep wooded areas where fires were spreading. Instead, crews utilized leaf blowers to form natural barriers of paths to force the fire to burn out on its own.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning to remain in effect for Massachusetts and Rhode Island until Monday night at 9 p.m., stating that the dry weather and strong winds would result in critical fire weather conditions.
A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are occurring and that any fires that start may spread rapidly and become difficult to extinguish.
The cause of all three fires is still under investigation.
