PEABODY — A fire at a Peabody multifamily residential building on Central Street left dozens of people without a home. Everyone was evacuated without injuries and all pets were accounted for.

A call at 12:05 a.m. Thursday alerted authorities of a fire in a second floor apartment and an engine was at the scene minutes later according to Fire Chief Jay Dowling. An interior attack was started then quickly ordered to stop when it was discovered that the entire back of the building was on fire.

After a period of fighting the blaze, an attempt to enter the building was quickly thwarted when firefighters were met with collapsed floors and ceilings. “Once it got into the walls, it got right into the roof and right into the attic,” Dowling said. “From 12:07 a.m. to 4 a.m., we were dumping water on it.”

In addition to getting all residents evacuated quickly and safely, firefighters were able to make sure all pets were with their families, rescuing a cat that was missing inside the burning building.

The city is working with the Red Cross to help the 34 residents that are now left without a home. “We have all residents inside the Knights of Columbus next door. We thank them a lot for using their facilities for now,” Dowling commented. 

The city plans to use the Council of Aging on 75 Central St., to temporarily house 16 of the residents for the weekend and are looking for somewhere to shelter those remaining. Where the dozens who used to live in this building will live permanently is obviously unclear.

Peabody PD assisted firefighters last night and this morning with a perimeter around the scene to give them space for keeping the blaze in control, Police Chief Thomas Griffin said. Throughout the day, officials from the Peabody fire and police department along with a trooper from the state fire marshal’s office will work their way through the ashes and rubble to determine what caused the fire.

Griffin noted that the investigation could take a while: “Unless someone comes up and says ‘I had food on the stove’ or something like that, you really have to do an in depth investigation to move through a whole bunch of different potential causes.” 

For now, the 34 residents of the complex that once held six units are left with heavy questions about what lies ahead. The Red Cross seeks to help with some of those questions, especially the most immediate needs of everyone affected. “Do people need blankets, do they need food or water?’, our responders tend to bring that stuff with them. So if someone needs a blanket or a stuffed animal, we can provide it right there on the spot”, Kelly Isenor, the Director of Communications at Red Cross Massachusetts told The Item. 

“Where we fill in is just talking to the client and making sure they have what they need…every client is different,” Isenor said. The Red Cross will then work with each client however long it will take for them to get back on their feet and recover from this tragedy.