Fire officials: 4 dead in blaze in multifamily Massachusetts home, 2 rescued, revived

LYNN, Mass. – Firefighters made dramatic rescues to pull two unconscious people out of a fully engulfed home early Friday but could not get to four people who were found dead on an upper floor, authorities said.

The fire in a multifamily home in Lynn, about 10 miles northeast of Boston, was reported just before 1 a.m., Fire Chief James McDonald said.

Firefighters crawled into a second-floor kitchen to pull out one woman, then another crew discovered the second woman, McDonald said.

Both women — one age 18, one in her 60s — were pulled from the building unconscious but were revived on the way to the hospital, fire officials said. A third woman jumped from the second floor onto a parked vehicle, McDonald said.

District Fire Chief Jack Berry called the rescues “absolutely amazing” and said he had never seen anything like it in his 32-year career.

No names have been made public, but officials say the victims do not appear to be children.

McDonald told The Daily Item of Lynn that it was the deadliest fire in the city since 1999.

The cause is under investigation. Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said investigators will look into the history of the building, including previous inspections and whether there were any code violations, and whether it had working fire alarms.

It is thought 18 to 20 people lived in the building. Survivors were taken to an improvised emergency shelter in a nearby building.

Resident Wilmer Perez said he awoke to the smell of the fire, grabbed his 7-year-old daughter and got out.

By late morning, the fire was out but the building’s roof had collapsed.