There were no injuries reported, but 11 residents were displaced early this morning when a three-alarm fire ripped through a three-unit building on Bellevue Avenue in Haverhill.
Haverhill Fire Chief Robert M. O’Brien said firefighters were dispatched from the High Street station for a reported trash fire near a grassy area. He said residents attempted to tackle it.
“The fire had gotten into the walls down there. It’s balloon construction and the fire quickly spread through the building as they were extinguishing the grass fire. It had gotten into the building and taken off,” O’Brien said.
The chief explained that in balloon construction, there is a continuous channel, straight from top to bottom, of the structure which serves as a conduit for fires. There was a fear wind would carry the fire to adjacent homes in the closely spaced neighborhood, but firefighters were able to contain the blaze.
Careless disposal of cigarettes is blamed for the fire’s start.
O’Brien said multiple alarms were called to bring additional manpower to the scene from mutual aid partners. He added the building sustained “heavy damage.”