Fire tears through Franklin apartment building

FRANKLIN, Mass. — Central Park Terrace residents came home to see their homes not just on fire but with firefighters literally cutting off their roof.

“I can’t go in, the fire department’s there, they’re using chainsaws,” said one anonymous resident.

“I wish I could have somebody go in and see if there’s anything savable,” said another.

“This has been a very stubborn fire to get access to in the overhead with the concrete and the asphalt,” said Franklin Chief Jim McLaughlin.

Stubborn might be the perfect word for the fire because this was the second time firefighters had to respond to this apartment. The first fire started around 11:00 a.m. Thursday.

Mark Pecoster started pounding on doors to get people out.

“It was high, you could feel the heat from here, it was unbelievable,” Pecoster said. “I saw it full of smoke, I said aww **** I had to get people here, next door, everyone out safely.”

A couple of hours later, the fire was out, and the chief said he was just 30 seconds away when maintenance crews called.

“There were a lot of people working here when the second fire came so there will have to be a very thorough investigation as to what the cause of the second fire is,” Chief McLaughlin said. “Right now, it is not assumed to be a rekindle at this point, it’s something that we have to thoroughly investigate.”

If it wasn’t rekindled flames, the State Fire Marshall’s office will investigate if it was arson.

“I really don’t think anybody would do that,” said an anonymous resident.

Right now, firefighters believe the first fire appears to be accidental. That fire was confined to one unit, but the tenant did have to go to the hospital to get checked out. Everyone is doing fine now except of course for having to stay in a hotel until they get back on their feet.

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