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December 25, 2011

Rice mourned as help pours in for families

Peabody firefighter's wake to be held Thursday

Michael Phillis The Salem News

PEABODY — As the Red Cross begins to address the needs of the five families displaced by Friday’s blaze at 5 Hancock St., another family is mourning the loss of a strong and caring father.

Peabody firefighter James Rice, an 11-year veteran, died while battling Friday’s fire. The 46-year-old Rice was wearing full protective gear but breathed in toxic fumes and met what Peabody fire Chief Steve Pasdon called “heavy and overwhelming conditions.”

Autopsy results are pending.

The cause of the three-alarm fire is still under investigation, though officials have ruled out arson.

Condolences poured in from firefighters and residents across the North Shore for the affable Rice, who joined the department in 2001 after abandoning a career in banking.

“(Jim) took the fireman’s test and got accepted. He loved every minute of it,” his mother-in-law, Jean Goldsworthy, said Saturday.

Rice leaves behind his wife, Amy, 39, and three children: Alyssa, 12, who attends Higgins Middle School, and Katelyn, 9, and Ryan, 7, who both attend Brown School.

Rice’s shift at the firehouse was scheduled to end Saturday morning, Goldsworthy said.

Rice, a 1987 graduate of St. John’s Prep in Danvers, was well-liked by his colleagues, Pasdon said Friday.

In a 2001 interview, Rice told The Salem News he had worked in banking for nine years but decided he didn’t like white-collar life and took the firefighters exam.

In 2003, Rice joined the pipe and drum corps formed by Peabody firefighters to march in parades and at funerals. The unit was created when Peabody firefighter Kevin Lynch died of a heart attack and an out-of-town pipe and drum corps played at his funeral.

Goldsworthy said the department has been helping her family deal with the loss.

“Talk about brothers,” she said. “They were at the hospital. They were at the house here. They all came in different little sections.”

Pasdon has been regularly checking in on Amy Rice to see if she needs anything, Goldsworthy said. “The chief has been awesome.”

Goldsworthy described James Rice as an “amazing” husband and father who loved attending his kids’ sporting events. The family has an above-ground pool, Goldsworthy said, a regular hangout spot for Jim and his family over the summer months.

Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office said Saturday that they believe the fire was started accidentally.

Hector Galarza, who lives on the second floor with his mother, told The Salem News on Friday that the fire started due to an electrical problem in the second-floor bedroom.

Galarza, 15, said the power had gone out in the building and his mother, Annelly Guerrieo, was trying to “fix something” when the bed caught on fire.

Hope Rivera, Guerrieo’s sister-in-law, said Guerrieo was trying to turn the power back on by flipping a fuse.

“The fuse blew. That’s when the fire started,” Rivera said.

One resident was taken to Salem Hospital on Friday to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

As of midafternoon on Saturday, Red Cross personnel were meeting with families who were displaced by the fire. “We will make sure they have housing somewhere to stay until the next business day … until Tuesday morning,” said Steve Napoli, the Red Cross manager of planning exercises and external relations for eastern Massachusetts.

Napoli said the city provided lodging for families Friday night. Families will receive assistance to find new living arrangements, clothing, food and supplies as needed, Napoli said.

Local residents have responded to the call for donations, Deputy fire Chief Paul Hinchion said yesterday. “We have had overwhelming support from the residents of the city of Peabody.” At headquarters, items have been copiously donated and now fill an entire bay of the Fire Department.

Cribs, toiletries, food and presents have made their way to the firehouse in support of the families who have lost their homes and their belongings, Hinchion said.

Donations to the Red Cross can be made through its website, www.redcross.org.

Two relief funds have been set up at the North Shore Bank, one for Rice’s family and one for the 13 residents displaced by the fire. They are the Firefighter James Rice Memorial Fund and the City of Peabody Fire Victims Relief Fund. Donations are being accepted at any North Shore Bank branch office or can be mailed to North Shore Bank, 32 Main St., Peabody, MA 01960.

Welch School has also established an account with Eastern Bank to help the families left homeless by the fire. Donations for those families can be sent to Welch School Families, Eastern Bank, 37 Foster St., Peabody, MA 01960.

In addition, Eastern Bank announced that it will donate $5,000 to a fund to benefit Rice’s family and $5,000 to a fund for the families.

A wake for Rice will be held Thursday at Conway, Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home at 82 Lynn St., Peabody, from 3 to 8 p.m.

Rice’s funeral is scheduled for Friday at St. John the Baptist Church, 16 Church St., Peabody, at 10 a.m.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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