LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - Investigators on Friday spent hours sifting through the rubble of a burned-out home in Lowell in an effort to determine the cause of a raging blaze that claimed the life of a 4-year-old girl.
Crews responding to Maude Street just after 2:30 p.m. on Thursday found a fire burning on all three floors of a triple-decker and flames bursting through the roof.
Video from SKY7 HD showed firefighters from Lowell, Lawrence, and Methuen on ladder trucks dousing the flames with water as the blaze burned out of control.
A neighborhood resident who looked on in shock as the fire consumed the home says she witnessed a woman toss a baby to safety from a third-floor balcony.
“I saw this lady with girls on the balcony with smoke and fire behind them,” the witness said. “I asked someone to get a mattress…A neighbor caught the baby from the third floor.”
Cellphone video captured the moment firefighters carried a young child down a ladder — one of several rescues that crews made.
“We rescued two adults, three children,” Lowell Fire Chief Phillip Charron said. “One child sadly was unaccounted for and has been found.”
Charron confirmed that the child was found dead in the building. Their name has not been released.
“It’s very, very sad, for a little girl, 4-years-old, my heart breaks,” Lowell Mayor Sohkary Chau said.
One person was taken to the hospital and is said to be in stable condition.
About 10 residents have been displaced and are being assisted by the Red Cross.
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