11 displaced by Fitchburg fire – Sentinel & Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- At first, Andrea Gendron didn't believe her daughter when she called Monday evening with the news the room right above their first-floor apartment had erupted into flames.

She hopped into her car and rushed home from work to 433 Princeton Road, where she saw thick black smoke billowing up from the newly-renovated multi-unit home she shared with her children, grandchildren and others.

"That's when I knew it was my house," said Gendron, who on Tuesday afternoon packed her car with clothes and what other of her belongings that fit.

Gendron and 10 other residents including Roger Caron and his three children, ages 1, 2, and 16, must find a place to live until their home is repaired, a process expected to take up to six months.

"It was amazing, no loss of life," said Gendron. "But three to six months is a long time to sleep on a couch."

Landlord and owner Yesenia Gil said the fire began in her second-floor unit, which she shares with her 26-year-old son.

Fitchburg Fire Chief Kevin Roy said Tuesday the fire was started by careless disposal of smoking materials and caused approximately $70,000 in damages to the two-story wooden-framed structure.

Gil, her hands covered in black soot, said her son was home when flames broke out after 5 p.m. Firefighters managed to contain the flames within two of the home's four units, said Roy.

One of those units had just been installed with new cabinets, one of the many projects Gil undertook before the fire cut short progress on her $40,000 renovation plan, which included the installation of a new boiler, roof and siding.

Caron, a contractor whose job it is to clean up fire-damaged buildings, said he wasn't prepared emotionally with the extent of the heavy fire and water damage.

"To come home to being a victim of something I help people with on a daily basis, it's a weird feeling," Caron said.

After a fire at this multi-family home on Fitchburg s Princeton Road on Monday afternoon, residents were cleaning out their things until it is repaired. Fire Chief Kevin Roy said the fire was caused by careless disposal of smoking materials. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/FILE PHOTO

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11 displaced by Fitchburg fire - Sentinel & Enterprise