Jun 2, 2008 3:54 pm US/Eastern
Gas Breach Played Part In Peabody Apartment Fire
PEABODY (WBZ) ―
Fire investigators say a cigarette caused a massive fire at a Peabody apartment complex, but gas also played a role in the blaze after the fact.
State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said a mulch bed next to the building was ignited Thursday by the smoking materials. After the fire was started, Coan said the blaze made its way toward the gas meters, which had a breach. That breach fed the fire that consumed an entire four-story structure at the Highlands at Dearborn complex.
Coan said investigators don't know who might have discarded the smoking materials.
Everybody escaped the blaze unharmed, though one firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.
All 900 of the complex's residents were evacuated and displaced for Thursday night. Building 8, which burned to the ground, housed 43 residents; only 27 of the building's 36 units were occupied.
Coan said the complex had seven mulch fires in the days prior to the massive blaze.
Coan has now asked National Grid to check all the meters at the complex, as well as all the piping.
Officials have also ordered all the mulch around the complex be removed.
According to State Fire Marshall Stephen Coan, the building's sprinkler system was up to code, but there were no sprinklers in the attic or the basement. The existing sprinklers were sufficient to allow residents to escape before the flames spread out of control, but were not enough to extinguish the fire, Coan said.
A new provision of the state fire code that will take effect later this year may require full sprinkler systems in similar buildings, he added.
An emergency service center for displaced residents is now open at the Marriott Hotel on Centennial Drive. An emergency helpline has also been setup for residents, 978-535-3994.
The Red Cross is accepting financial donations for displaced residents of the Highlands at Dearborn complex. You can make a donation by calling 800-564-1234.
This is not the first fire at the Highlands apartments. A $1 million blaze in March 2007 destroyed two apartments and forced the evacuation of nearly two dozen units.
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