BEVERLY — Electrical heaters used by residents in an apartment building without home heating oil caused a three-alarm fire on Bennett Street yesterday morning that left two families homeless, fire officials said.
The heaters overloaded electrical circuits on the second floor, sparking a fire that eventually caused the roof of the three-story duplex to collapse.
"They apparently ran out of oil a couple of days ago and hadn't gotten resupplied yet, so they were using the electrical heaters," Beverly fire Lt. Donald Philpot said.
Off-duty firefighter Scott Steeves spotted the fire just after 7 a.m. and helped evacuate the residents, including one man on the second floor who was at first reluctant to leave, fire officials said.
Eleven people from two families lived in the building, according to American Red Cross of Northeast Massachusetts, which is based in Beverly. Fire officials said no injuries were reported. Firefighter Jon Palm pulled a black cat named Patriot from the building.
The building was home to two families, including Rebecca Ruest and her two sons. Just over three years ago, on the day after Christmas in 2007, the Ruests were burned out of their apartment across the street on Cabot Street.
Ruest said she was helping her 18-year-old son get ready for school when a neighbor in the duplex began banging on her door.
"He was yelling, 'Get out. The house is on fire,'" Ruest said.
Ruest's oldest son, Chad, is in the U.S. Army stationed in Georgia.
Firefighters from seven fire departments battled the blaze on a freezing cold morning. The building is at 5 Bennett St., just behind the Wild Horse Cafe, a restaurant on Cabot Street in the Gloucester Crossing neighborhood. The restaurant was closed at the time of the fire and opened for business as usual at 4 p.m.
Fire officials said they were hampered by the fact that several fire hydrants in the area were still buried under snowbanks and had to be dug out. Inside the building, firefighters were blocked getting to the attic by a stairwell that had been turned into a closet.
Firefighters used a chain saw to open the closet wall, but by that time the fire had advanced rapidly. Deputy fire Chief William Walsh ordered all crews out of the building, and firefighters began attacking the fire from outside with two trucks from Beverly and trucks from Danvers, Wenham, Topsfield and Manchester.
The home, valued at approximately $350,000, is considered a total loss, fire officials said.
Investigators from the state fire marshal's office assisted in the investigation. Salem, Peabody and Swampscott firefighters assisted at the scene, while Middleton, Lynnfield, Marblehead and Hamilton provided mutual aid.
The Red Cross and other local agencies are helping the two families with lodging, food, clothing and medications, said Frederica Doeringer, executive director of American Red Cross of Northeast Massachusetts.
A fund has been set up to assist the displaced families. Donations can be sent to the Bennett Street Fire Fund, c/o Beverly Cooperative Bank, 254 Cabot St., Beverly.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.
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