Plumbers Torch Sparks Huge Apartment Fire In Lawrence

April 2, 2015 12:31 PM

LAWRENCE (CBS) A large fire at a triple-decker apartment building displaced 31 people in Lawrence early Thursday morning.

The fire chief said the owner was doing work in a first-floor bathroom with a plumbers torch and that somehow started the fire.

He was able to alert everyone inside and no one was hurt.

The building was not well-insulated, so investigators said that made it easy for the flames to spread quickly.

An apartment fire in Lawrence (Photo credit Rick Macomber/WBZ-TV)

The fire ripped through the roof of the home on Elm Street in just minutes.

For Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, it hit close to home.

Its kind of sad because this is the first house I lived in when I was kid here in Lawrence. We came here when I was 5 years old, he said. Its six units of housing we cant afford to lose, but the good news is everyone is safe.

Aftermath of a Lawrence fire. (WBZ-TV)

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Plumbers Torch Sparks Huge Apartment Fire In Lawrence