Local News

Two weeks after a 70-year-old man was killed in a huge fire in downtown Gloucester, investigators in white protective suits and face masks began an accelerated search to find his remains.

Searchers sifted through the debris, using rakes and their hands, hoping to find Robert Taylor so that those who cared about him would have a chance to say goodbye.

"He was a human being," Gloucester Fire Chief Barry McKay told The Boston Globe. "He deserves to be treated with respect."

The search began Friday and Gloucester Fire Capt. Joe Aiello said it continued Saturday.

On Friday, police, firefighters, State Police assigned to the state fire marshall's office, federal agents and volunteers searched through soil as a backhoe shifted the debris to make the task easier. Workers wore protective clothing and face masks because asbestos was found in the wreckage of the Lorraine Apartments building.

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan compared the recovery effort to the 1999 search in Worcester after six firefighters were killed in a warehouse fire.

Taylor was on the third floor of the apartment building, located directly across from the city's central fire station, when the eight alarm fire broke out late Dec. 14.

A firefighter climbed into Taylor's apartment, but was unable to carry Taylor out and was then driven out by the flames, according to officials.

The fire destroyed the 25-unit building and a neighboring synagogue, but no one beside Taylor was hurt. Coan said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but said it was believed to be accidental.

Taylor, the apartment building's handyman, was known for an upbeat attitude and his generosity. Three weeks ago, he paid for and cooked meals for 90 people at a regular charity dinner organized by interfaith groups, said Miriam "Mim" Maguire, who worked with him that day.

"He didn't have a lot, but he wanted to do it," she said. "It was his gift."

Taylor was also the handyman at neighboring Trinity Church. Members remembered that he had a physical handicap that gave him an unusual gait, but it didn't slow him down.

"I miss him already," said church worker Sally Koen. "There's a void without him here."

A fund has been set up to help the victims of the Gloucester fire.

The Gloucester Fund
45 Middle Street
Gloucester, MA 01930
978-490-0001