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Lynn Firefighter Derek Spitaleri climbs Ladder 1 to position a hose as crews battle a two-alarm fire at 47-49 Burrill Ave., in Lynn Monday evening. (Spenser Hasak) Purchase this photo

Wind driven fire hits Burrill Avenue

Briana Alvarez

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LYNN — A second-alarm fire caused significant damage to a multi-story residential building at 49 Burrill Avenue as firefighters contended with strong winds, freezing temperatures, and rapidly deteriorating conditions, fire officials said.

“A fire on the second floor is what I think the initial report was. On arrival, they found heavy black smoke immediately started stretching lines pretty quickly, which extended into the third floor,” Fire Chief Daniel Sullivan stated. “With these wind conditions, it just fuels the fire, and it’s hard to get ahead of it, especially now that the roof is dropped; it’s just adding more oxygen to the fire.”

Chief Sullivan said the extreme weather conditions and structural damage made suppression efforts increasingly difficult, especially as the fire spread upward and the roof collapsed.

Firefighters on scene were exposed to soaking water and cold temperatures, raising concerns about fatigue as operations continued.

“If we’re here for another couple hours and I have a lot of cold people here so you know, right now with all the adrenaline and you know everyone’s warmed up it’s not going to be a problem but as we get closer to the end of the fire it’s going to get pretty difficult for these for these guys,” he stated. 

Officials were unable to immediately confirm whether anyone was inside the home at the time the fire began. However, the Red Cross had been called for 14 displaced people. 

“I did get a notification from one of the councilors that the neighbors were knocking on doors, trying to get everyone out. So we’d like to thank them for their attentiveness, but also caution them to stay away from a fire building as well,” Sullivan said. 

On top of that, multiple departments came to assist the Lynn fire department, such as Revere, Salem, and Swampscott. 

According to the Lynn Fire Department, a bulk of the fire has been put out.

PIO Denis Ring stated that although there were no injuries known at this time, the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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