UPDATE: Five buildings damaged in Salem fire
May 9—SALEM — Crews from throughout the region were battling a devastating multi-building, three-alarm fire in the area of Hancock and Geneva streets Monday afternoon.
By 5:30 p.m., two hours into the blaze, three buildings were still burning, including the first to catch — 29 Hancock — burning aggressively with black smoke billowing out of the third floor. Towers were hosing the building off from three points of attack, as well as several lines inside the now burned-out 27 Hancock St.
Salem fire Lt. Peter Schaeublin said five buildings were damaged in the late afternoon blaze — 27, 29 and 31 Hancock St., and 32 and 34 Cabot St. No injuries were reported.
The fire was first reported around 3:40 p.m., according to Schaeublin. A third alarm was struck within six minutes of crews first getting to the scene, according to social media activity reporting scanner traffic. As of 4:45 p.m., four buildings were actively burning, per city building inspector Tom St. Pierre.
"It's been very difficult getting to the scene of the fire," Schaeublin said. "The building is what you'd call a triple-decker. It's all combustible wood, so the fire traveled very quickly. Wind has been an issue for a little bit with our aerial drives."
Another issue, Schaeublin said, was that "the buildings are so densely packed. This is a neighborhood that goes back a long time, so even the buildings on the street behind are also very close."
He credited fire working alarms in the affected buildings as helping save lives.
Rebecca Prescott, who lives across the street from the fire, said she was "in the living room, and I heard a big explosion. We looked out the window, and we saw flames coming from 29."
She then pointed to 27 Hancock, to the left.
"Then it caught fire to the house over here," she said, swinging her arm to 31 to the right, "and I don't know how much damage was done to this house, which was just being restored."
Tyler Carlton, who also lives across from the fire, said he first heard "a bunch of screaming. So I looked out the window and saw people banging on the door, saying, 'Get out! Get out!'"
"It happened so fast, honestly," Carlton said. "Three trucks I could see come in right away, and they had to get everything prepped. The first thing they did was make sure everyone got out safely. They double-checked, everyone was accounted for. The only person who wasn't here was at work."
The scene "was loud," Carlton said. "It was quick. It was all hands on deck."
"It was just petrifying," Prescott said. She remembers seeing everyone run out right after the explosion. "I couldn't believe how fast they came out of the house. They came out holding their dogs."
Schaeublin said mutual aid came from Beverly, Peabody, Danvers, Wenham, Lynn, Swampscott, Marblehead and Lynnfield.
For more coverage of the fire and pictures, visit bit.ly/3wjFzmM and bit.ly/37vn2vr.
Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
