LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - Firefighters battling flames that tore through a home in Lowell before spreading to two other structures also braved dangerously cold weather conditions on Thanksgiving night.
The fast-moving fire on Arthur Street left little time for residents to get out of the buildings.
“I went and grabbed a few items and just tried to hurry and put some clothes on,” resident Easter Thomas recalled after a firefighter knocked on her door to alert her. “I ran downstairs with like some slippers on. I didn’t have my boots or my coat or anything on.”
Firefighters say when they arrived, some hydrants were frozen. When they finally got water flowing, it quickly froze the street.
“The wind was difficult,” Fire Chief Jeff Windward said. “The wind, the cold, obviously, we have ice everywhere. Lot of slip and falls. The houses are very close together and they were pretty tall, so the embers were flying around the neighborhood.”
Investigators believe the flames started in the back of a home and the wind spread it to other houses.
In total, 25 people were displaced after safely evacuating the buildings.
A firefighter was hospitalized for smoke inhalation but he is expected to be OK.
The cause remains under investigation.
One family affected by the destruction is looking for donations, which can be made here.
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