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Fire guts Lynn apartment building

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 29, 2010 06:07 PM

By Travis M. Andersen, Globe Staff

Fire destroyed a vacant 2 1/2-story apartment building in Lynn this afternoon, fire officials said. No injuries were reported.

The fire at 540 Summer St. was reported at about 3 p.m. There was heavy fire in the rear of the building when firefighters arrived, said Deputy Fire Chief Jim McDonald..

"The house is a total loss," he said.

He said the"three-plus"-alarm fire was extinguished by around 4:30 p.m.

Smoke was still coming out of the building's roof shortly before 5 p.m. But McDonald said investigators were about to enter the building to try to determine the cause.

Live footage from a WHDH-TV helicopter during the fire showed smoke billowing from the house, which was near the Western Avenue intersection. Firefighters atop ladders sprayed jets of water on it from above, while others sprayed it from below.

Johnny Peng, whose wife owns Mittapheap restaurant on Western Avenue across the street from the fire, said as the fire burned that the smoke was so heavy it was wafting into the restaurant.

“It’s still heavy smoke coming from there,” Peng said. “Three ladders up in the air with water spraying -- basically, the whole roof of the house is off.”

Briyen Evans, 35, of Lynn, said he was at a nearby Tedeschi food market when the fire started and called 911.

He said he told a woman in the evacuated triple decker to leave with her three small children before fire fighters arrived.

"She didn't want to leave," he said.

Evans said the fire moved quickly up the building from the rear.

Globe correspondent L. Finch and Martin Finucane of the Globe staff contributed to this report.