LYNN — Family and friends of the victims of a four-alarm fire that destroyed a Broadway home on April 2 are hosting a fundraiser Wednesday night at the Knights of Columbus to raise money for the families that were displaced.
The Poisson family, who lived on the third floor, held a fundraiser last week. Wednesday’s fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. is for the Coleman-Lennon and the Thornton families, who lived on 30 Broadway’s first and second floors.
Seven adults and four children in total lived in the two-and-a-half-story home.
“It’s just devastating and is a really unfortunate situation,” said Rosane Batista, who is helping plan this fundraiser and is a close friend of the Coleman-Lennon family.
The fundraiser will have a DJ; food donated by Ciao, Angelina’s and Alfredo’s; a cash bar; raffles, and a $10 entrance fee at the door.
All of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Coleman-Lennon and the Thornton families.
“Help these families bounce back from the devastating fire on Broadway,” said the organizers of the event. “No donation is too big or small.”
The fire broke out on April 2 at 30 Broadway around 11:30 a.m. and second, third and fourth alarms were quickly struck.
The fire continued to rage for about two hours and the building ultimately collapsed. All residents of the home self-evacuated and no one was hurt. A firefighter went to the hospital to be treated for exhaustion.
Fire Chief Stephen Archer said fire investigators have determined that the origin of the fire was the exterior deck at the side and rear of the building.
The cause of the fire, Archer said, is officially “undetermined,” but was most likely caused by improper disposal of smoking materials.
GoFundMe pages have been set up for the families and can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/zps9vu-my-families-house-burnt-down (Coleman-Lennon family); https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-consider-helping-out-lynn-fire-victims (Thornton family); and https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-poisson-family-lost-everything-in-a-fire (Poisson family).
Anyone is invited to attend Wednesday’s fundraiser.
