Fire Ravages Central Sq.

An eight alarm blaze completely destroyed a five-story brick apartment building and severely damaged a second in Central Square late Friday night, leaving 100 people homeless, but miraculously no one was seriously injured.

One hundred forty firefighters from across the state and dozens of police and emergency disaster personnel responded to the fire, which raged from 11 at night to well into Saturday morning. Thick, black smoke billowed from the buildings for hours and brought the Central Square area of Cambridge to a grinding halt:

. Twenty-nine families who lived in the three buildings were driven into the street.

. More than 12 blocks of streets along Mass. Ave. were roped off by police and fire personnel Friday night and throughout the entire day Saturday. Pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic in the area was completely halted.

. Public bus service in the area was stopped, and buses were still being rerouted late yesterday afternoon.

An eight alarm fire raged through CentralSquare Friday night, destroying one building andbadly damaging another. Twenty-nine families wereput out on the street. Public transporation waseither re-routed or shut down. Thick, black smokelimited visibility to less than 50 feet.Miraculously, no one was injured, but as oneCambridge police detective on the sceneobserved,

. The MBTA subway station at Central Square wasclosed until late Saturday afternoon. MBTAofficials, who were directing passengers tosubstitute shuttle busses Saturday, said theyworried the burning buildings might collapse andcrush the subway below.

. One of the two buildings was demolishedSaturday with a wrecking ball and other heavyequipment.

. A McDonald's restaurant and an unfinishedfurniture store located on the ground-floor of thebuildings sustained substantial smoke and waterdamage in the blaze.

`It was so bad you couldn't see 50 feetin front of you," said Cambridge police Det. FrankPasquarello, who assisted in the emergencyresponse late Friday night and early Saturdaymorning. "It was a nightmare."

Authorities said the cause of the blaze isstill under investigation, but does not appear tobe suspicious. Deputy Fire Chief John J. Gelinassaid yesterday there was nothing to indicate arsonas a cause of the fire. It appears that the blazewas accidental, Gelinas said.

Pasquarello said potentially hazardouschemicals, such as paints or varnishes, stored inthe unfinished furniture store on the first floorof one of the buildings, might slow theinvestigation.

Firefighters working at the scene said theywere awed by the extent of the damage. Gelinassaid fire alarms were in place and sounding in theburned buildings.

American Red Cross disaster service workersarrived at the fire around midnight and began a'round-the-clock operation to provide emergencyservices for the families who lost their homes.Most of the residents were low-income Haitian andHispanic families.

For now, the displaced families are staying atCambridge Rindge and Latin High School, afterspending Friday night at the smaller St. Paul'sAfrican Methodist Church.

Authorities said the fire was broughtunder control around 2 a.m. Saturday morning. Buteven late Saturday afternoon, firefighterscontinued to pump thousands of gallons of wateronto smoldering embers.

Some firefighters brought hoses into the lessdamaged building and sprayed water from thatstructure into the other razed building, even asit was being demolished late Saturday afternoon.

Around 10:55 p.m. Friday night Cambridge policeLt. Edward Hussey was starting his shift on aprivate security detail at BioRan Co. near CentralSquare when he observed smoke and flames comingfrom the five-story building, located on Mass.Avenue near Douglas Street.

Hussey called police headquarters to report thefire, and several more police officers arrived onthe scene. The initial fire department reactionwas slightly delayed, officers said, becauseCambridge firefighters were busy with anotherfire. "It seemed like an awfully long time beforethey showed up," one officer said.

James A. DeFrancesco, one of the firstCambridge officers to respond to the report, saidthe fire was burning out of control even as hearrived. "The place was fully engulfed with smokeand we could barely see the building," he said.

DeFrancesco and six other officers then formeda human pyramid so that they could gain access tothe burning building's first-floor roof, where onewoman was stranded. The police were able toextricate the woman without injury either to heror the officers.

While officers below worked to enter thebuilding through side entrances, DeFrancesco andanother officer scaled their way up to the thirdfloor. DeFrancesco was then lowered into asecond-floor window, where he had seen two figuresmoving about in the smoke.

"I was lowered onto a second-floor landing butI couldn't see much. So I called for a flashlightand I could make out two figures moving in thesmoke. I called to them and picked them up andpassed them out to the window," DeFrancescorecalled. Because of the officers' efforts, thechildren sustained no injuries in the fire.

"I went back in but I couldn't make it. Thesmoke was too heavy," said DeFrancesco, an 11-yearveteran of the Cambridge police.

Despite the intense heat, officers who wereable to enter the building from the ground floorknocked on scorching hot doors with unprotectedhands, Pasquarello said.

"The officers knocked on the doors with theirbare hands. And some people in the building didn'teven know it was on fire," Pasquarello said. "Thefire spread very quickly."

DeFrancesco was one of three officers who weretaken to Cambridge City Hospital after sufferingsmoke inhalation in the midnight rescue. After avisit from Police Commissioner Perry L. AndersonJr., DeFrancesco was released around 2:30 a.m.

Yet DeFrancesco was modest about his heroicwork and that of his fellow police officers. "Ifany other officer was up there I would expect themto do the same thing for my kids."

Luis Garcia, one of the 40 or 50 American RedCross disaster relief workers giving aid to thosedisplaced by the fire, said Red Cross personnelhad been summoned to the fire from as far away asNew Bedford, Mass., and Nashua, N.H. Firefightershad come from as far away as Quincy andBurlington.

Barbara Platt, another American Red Crossworker, said her staff was working to meet theimmediate needs of the fire victims, includingproviding bed, meals and prescription medications.Workers will try to determine what was lost in theblaze and assess the expense of finding newpermanent shelter for those displaced.

Platt said the American Red Cross has alreadyspent thousands of dollars on the reliefoperation. "And that's just preliminary," shesaid.

Garcia said 21 apartments were completelydestroyed by the fire and eight others were"seriously damaged." American Red Cross nurses andcase workers had been at the site of the firesince 11:30 p.m. Friday night.

A crowd of about two hundred stunned on-lookerswatched Saturday in amazement at the carnage leftbehind by the fire, as heavy equipment includingbull-dozers and a wrecking ball worked to topplethe most heavily damaged building.

Central Square residents interviewed as theystood watching along Mass. Avenue said they hadnever witnessed such pervasive and devastatingfire destruction.

John Clifford, the owner of the Green St.Grille just around the corner from the location ofthe fire, said he was shocked by the flames andsmoke he witnessed Friday night. "It was a miraclethat they contained it, the smoke and flames wereshocking," he said.

Clifford and several other Central Squarebusiness owners are collecting donations of foodand clothing to give to the displaced residents.One area restaurant owner has already donated$1,000 and 15 beds, Clifford said.

Roger Cadman, a student and Central Squareresident, said his mother had called him in apanic to find out if his building was the onestruck by the blaze. After reassuring his motherthat his home was quite secure, Cadman headed outwith his friend Tom Marsh to see what had happenedthe previous night along Mass. Avenue.

"I've never seen anything quite this bad, and I[have] watched my own house burn down," Marshsaid.CrimsonAndrew L. WrightA crowd of several hundred bystanders lookon Saturday afternoon as a demolition teamprepares to knock down a five-story apartmentbuilding.

An eight alarm fire raged through CentralSquare Friday night, destroying one building andbadly damaging another. Twenty-nine families wereput out on the street. Public transporation waseither re-routed or shut down. Thick, black smokelimited visibility to less than 50 feet.Miraculously, no one was injured, but as oneCambridge police detective on the sceneobserved,

. The MBTA subway station at Central Square wasclosed until late Saturday afternoon. MBTAofficials, who were directing passengers tosubstitute shuttle busses Saturday, said theyworried the burning buildings might collapse andcrush the subway below.

. One of the two buildings was demolishedSaturday with a wrecking ball and other heavyequipment.

. A McDonald's restaurant and an unfinishedfurniture store located on the ground-floor of thebuildings sustained substantial smoke and waterdamage in the blaze.

`It was so bad you couldn't see 50 feetin front of you," said Cambridge police Det. FrankPasquarello, who assisted in the emergencyresponse late Friday night and early Saturdaymorning. "It was a nightmare."

Authorities said the cause of the blaze isstill under investigation, but does not appear tobe suspicious. Deputy Fire Chief John J. Gelinassaid yesterday there was nothing to indicate arsonas a cause of the fire. It appears that the blazewas accidental, Gelinas said.

Pasquarello said potentially hazardouschemicals, such as paints or varnishes, stored inthe unfinished furniture store on the first floorof one of the buildings, might slow theinvestigation.

Firefighters working at the scene said theywere awed by the extent of the damage. Gelinassaid fire alarms were in place and sounding in theburned buildings.

American Red Cross disaster service workersarrived at the fire around midnight and began a'round-the-clock operation to provide emergencyservices for the families who lost their homes.Most of the residents were low-income Haitian andHispanic families.

For now, the displaced families are staying atCambridge Rindge and Latin High School, afterspending Friday night at the smaller St. Paul'sAfrican Methodist Church.

Authorities said the fire was broughtunder control around 2 a.m. Saturday morning. Buteven late Saturday afternoon, firefighterscontinued to pump thousands of gallons of wateronto smoldering embers.

Some firefighters brought hoses into the lessdamaged building and sprayed water from thatstructure into the other razed building, even asit was being demolished late Saturday afternoon.

Around 10:55 p.m. Friday night Cambridge policeLt. Edward Hussey was starting his shift on aprivate security detail at BioRan Co. near CentralSquare when he observed smoke and flames comingfrom the five-story building, located on Mass.Avenue near Douglas Street.

Hussey called police headquarters to report thefire, and several more police officers arrived onthe scene. The initial fire department reactionwas slightly delayed, officers said, becauseCambridge firefighters were busy with anotherfire. "It seemed like an awfully long time beforethey showed up," one officer said.

James A. DeFrancesco, one of the firstCambridge officers to respond to the report, saidthe fire was burning out of control even as hearrived. "The place was fully engulfed with smokeand we could barely see the building," he said.

DeFrancesco and six other officers then formeda human pyramid so that they could gain access tothe burning building's first-floor roof, where onewoman was stranded. The police were able toextricate the woman without injury either to heror the officers.

While officers below worked to enter thebuilding through side entrances, DeFrancesco andanother officer scaled their way up to the thirdfloor. DeFrancesco was then lowered into asecond-floor window, where he had seen two figuresmoving about in the smoke.

"I was lowered onto a second-floor landing butI couldn't see much. So I called for a flashlightand I could make out two figures moving in thesmoke. I called to them and picked them up andpassed them out to the window," DeFrancescorecalled. Because of the officers' efforts, thechildren sustained no injuries in the fire.

"I went back in but I couldn't make it. Thesmoke was too heavy," said DeFrancesco, an 11-yearveteran of the Cambridge police.

Despite the intense heat, officers who wereable to enter the building from the ground floorknocked on scorching hot doors with unprotectedhands, Pasquarello said.

"The officers knocked on the doors with theirbare hands. And some people in the building didn'teven know it was on fire," Pasquarello said. "Thefire spread very quickly."

DeFrancesco was one of three officers who weretaken to Cambridge City Hospital after sufferingsmoke inhalation in the midnight rescue. After avisit from Police Commissioner Perry L. AndersonJr., DeFrancesco was released around 2:30 a.m.

Yet DeFrancesco was modest about his heroicwork and that of his fellow police officers. "Ifany other officer was up there I would expect themto do the same thing for my kids."

Luis Garcia, one of the 40 or 50 American RedCross disaster relief workers giving aid to thosedisplaced by the fire, said Red Cross personnelhad been summoned to the fire from as far away asNew Bedford, Mass., and Nashua, N.H. Firefightershad come from as far away as Quincy andBurlington.

Barbara Platt, another American Red Crossworker, said her staff was working to meet theimmediate needs of the fire victims, includingproviding bed, meals and prescription medications.Workers will try to determine what was lost in theblaze and assess the expense of finding newpermanent shelter for those displaced.

Platt said the American Red Cross has alreadyspent thousands of dollars on the reliefoperation. "And that's just preliminary," shesaid.

Garcia said 21 apartments were completelydestroyed by the fire and eight others were"seriously damaged." American Red Cross nurses andcase workers had been at the site of the firesince 11:30 p.m. Friday night.

A crowd of about two hundred stunned on-lookerswatched Saturday in amazement at the carnage leftbehind by the fire, as heavy equipment includingbull-dozers and a wrecking ball worked to topplethe most heavily damaged building.

Central Square residents interviewed as theystood watching along Mass. Avenue said they hadnever witnessed such pervasive and devastatingfire destruction.

John Clifford, the owner of the Green St.Grille just around the corner from the location ofthe fire, said he was shocked by the flames andsmoke he witnessed Friday night. "It was a miraclethat they contained it, the smoke and flames wereshocking," he said.

Clifford and several other Central Squarebusiness owners are collecting donations of foodand clothing to give to the displaced residents.One area restaurant owner has already donated$1,000 and 15 beds, Clifford said.

Roger Cadman, a student and Central Squareresident, said his mother had called him in apanic to find out if his building was the onestruck by the blaze. After reassuring his motherthat his home was quite secure, Cadman headed outwith his friend Tom Marsh to see what had happenedthe previous night along Mass. Avenue.

"I've never seen anything quite this bad, and I[have] watched my own house burn down," Marshsaid.CrimsonAndrew L. WrightA crowd of several hundred bystanders lookon Saturday afternoon as a demolition teamprepares to knock down a five-story apartmentbuilding.