By Nicole Simmons
masslive.com
LYNN, Mass. — The Lynn Fire Department revealed more details about a 5-alarm fire that destroyed a church and displaced at least 18 people from a triple-decker apartment building Friday night.
Someone in a three-story, wood-framed, six-unit apartment building at 60 Estes St. called 911 at 8:22 p.m. Friday to report there was a fire in the building, City of Lynn Fire Department posted on Facebook Saturday at noon. When fire crews arrived, they saw smoke coming from a second-story window and called for more help.
Fire personnel quickly discovered the fire was spreading from the back of the apartment building into a three-story, wood-framed church behind it.
That church, later seen in media videos as Iglesia Evangelica Congregacional at 10 Chestnut St.. was built in 1938, Lynn Fire said.
At 8:31 p.m., more help was requested and a second alarm was struck. The fire in the apartment building was heavy, but the situation at the church was worse, as the fire had extended into the church’s roofline, Lynn Fire said. A Lynn Fire lieutenant “reported an imminent collapse” of one the church’s corners.
Faced with 20 mph winds and burning power lines, officials struck back-to-back third and fourth alarms at 8:45 p.m. to call in even more help. They were connecting so many fire hoses, they had to find fire hydrants blocks away, Lynn Fire said.
“This was now a defensive fire,” the post said.
The wind whipped “large embers and brands” toward Broad, Atlantic and Breed streets. A fifth alarm was struck after fire crews decided to evacuate some of the nearby buildings, including 1, 3 and 5 Broad St.
Crews shot water from handheld hoses and five “master streams” from ladder trucks onto the fire. The freezing temperatures quickly froze water on the sidewalks, causing “multiple firefighters” to fall, but none were injured, according to the post.
“The second floor of the church collapsed, pushing the front wall out and collapsing to the front sidewalk,” Lynn Fire said.
Despite that, firefighters were able to contain the fire to the Estes Street apartment building and church, sparing an automotive shop on one side of the church and a 2.5-story, wood-framed house on the other side.
One occupant from 60 Estes St. was taken to a hospital for evaluation, the post said, but their condition Saturday was not revealed. At least 18 people from that building were displaced, with the Red Cross stepping in to help. An MBTA bus was used as a shelter for those who needed it.
In the end, more than 60 firefighters and other personnel from Saugus , Salem , Peabody , Lynnfield , Melrose , Swampscott , Marblehead , Revere , Chelsea and Boston were on the scene. At least nine Lynn fire apparatus were used.
The Lynn Fire Investigation Unit and the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the fire marshal’s office are investigating the fire.
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