Early Morning Fire Burns Through Lynn 3-Family Home
LYNN (CBS) -- Thanks to one man's quick thinking, everyone is safe after a fire burned through a three-family home in Lynn early Tuesday morning.
Renso Medina, who lived in the building, smelled smoke and knew he had to get everyone out.
"When I touched the wall it was too hot, that's when I knew I needed to wake everybody up," said Medina. "I just wanted everybody out of the building."
The Lynn Fire Department responded to the fire on Lowell Street around 3:20 a.m. Tuesday, arriving as occupants came running out.
Estefani Vasqez was in the house when it caught fire. She said she was very grateful that Medina alerted the rest of the building to the fire.
"When I smelled the fire, the first thing that came to mind was to tell my mom to get the baby," she said. "We didn't really know what to grab, so we just grabbed my sister."
A second and third alarm were called after fire was spotted rolling from the rear of the building's attic to the front of the house.
Lynn District Fire Chief Arthur Richard said crews were hampered by the size of the building, as well as access problems.
"We had a real problem, as you can see in this area, very congested, lot of parked cars, narrow streets, the house is set way in the back, so we had access problems, that was our main difficulty," said Richard.
Richard said one firefighter received medical attention for exhaustion, but is expected to be okay. He said the department was dealing with a lot of fires overnight.
"We saw quite a lot of fire here in Lynn on the Fourth of July, that's for sure," he told reporters Tuesday morning.
Twelve people, including two babies and ten adults, were displaced by the fire.
The building suffered "tremendous" water damage, Richard said, and would no longer be habitable.
A cause for the fire had not yet been determined. When asked about the possibility of fireworks playing a part in the blaze, Richard said, "Absolutely, that's something that will be looked at."
