Peabody: 'Stubborn' blaze at Essex Place displaces about 20 residents

By Stacie N. Galang
Staff writer

February 26, 2008 11:34 am

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PEABODY — A veteran firefighter struggling to breathe bailed out of a smoke-filled apartment building yesterday by escaping headfirst down a ladder.

Firefighter Steve Franzosa was working on the three-alarm blaze at 36 Keys Drive — in the sprawling Essex Place apartment complex near the Northshore Mall — when he stuck his head out a second-floor window calling for help. Several onlookers, fire officials from area departments, scrambled to move a nearby extension ladder to Franzosa's window.

The firefighter, the only person injured, left the scene on a stretcher and was rushed to Lahey Clinic. He was treated and later released, Lahey spokesman Scott Hartman said yesterday.

About 20 residents of the complex, which is managed by AvalonBay, were displaced as of last night, fire Capt. Jay Dowling said. An AvalonBay employee at the scene refused to comment. A call left with the company yesterday afternoon was not returned by press time.

The fire started shortly after 1 p.m., smoldering in the walls and ceiling of the 12-apartment brick structure. The blaze proved difficult for firefighters to find and stamp out, Dowling said.

"It was stubborn, very, very stubborn," Peabody fire Chief Steven Pasdon said.

Dowling was among the first wave of firefighters to arrive and saw smoke coming from the roof, wafting east. He and the first crew quickly cut a hole into the roof to channel the smoke up and out of the building.

"(The hole) draws the fire up to the roof so it doesn't spread horizontally," he said.

The captain believed the fire started somewhere between the first and second floors but did not have a cause as of yesterday afternoon.

The fire is still under investigation, Pasdon said.

Police and firefighters evacuated both the 12 apartments in the affected structure and another 12 rentals in the adjoining building at 34 Keys Drive.

Pasdon said six of the apartments at 36 Keys Drive were destroyed, and the remaining six had heavy smoke and water damage.

Smoke billowed out the doors and windows for about two hours before fire was visible from a first-floor window. Sweat-covered firefighters cycled in and out of the building as they worked the blaze.

Resident Jean Jaynes said she quickly grabbed some belongings and fled when she overheard firefighters yell something about an open flame on the third floor.

"I grabbed my bag and got out the door," said Jaynes, who has lived in one of the basement apartments for more than three years. "I couldn't find my pictures. I couldn't even think, I was so nervous."

She said one of the top-floor apartments had been vacant and was being renovated by construction workers.

Third-floor resident Marissa Palladino said she saw smoke in her apartment and initially thought it was related to nearby construction. She left the building briefly but returned to get her birds when she realized they might be in jeopardy.

"I had two birds I had in a cage," Palladino said. "I had to go up and get them."

Palladino, who moved to the apartment in December, waited in the parking lot with other residents to get word about her apartment and belongings.

"I'll do fine once I know what happened," she said.

One gray tiger cat had to be rescued from the building, and another cat was taken from the adjoining building, said Peabody Animal Control Officer Manny Bettencourt.

As firefighters gained control of the blaze, they started throwing charred pieces of wood, metal and insulation out first-floor windows.

The chief praised the fire crew for their work on what he described as a "labor-intensive" fire. He also singled out Dowling.

"Capt. Dowling did an outstanding job," Pasdon said.

Two Peabody ladder trucks and four engines were at the scene. Firefighters from Beverly, Danvers, Salem and other North Shore communities assisted at the fire, while Swampscott, Wenham and Middleton covered Peabody stations.

A group of about 18 residents was taken temporarily to the Torigian Community Life Center, Pasdon said.

Amelia Aubourg, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Bay Red Cross, said her agency sent a team of disaster action volunteers to Essex Place yesterday.

She said the management company offered to help residents with hotel accommodations, although many of the displaced opted to stay with relatives.

The Red Cross provided food and clothing assistance.

"We anticipate that we'll get more follow-up calls tomorrow," Aubourg said.

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