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New Bedford firefighters rescued some and others jumped to escape a massive fire in a rooming house Tuesday night. Kruger said around two dozen people were rescued from the rooming house, with five residents taken to the hospital in serious condition. One person was later transferred to Mass General in critical condition. The Bristol County District Attorney’s office identified the man killed in the fire as Manuel Moreira, 59, who lived on the fourth floor of the rooming house. NEW BEDFORD — At least one person has died and two people remained unaccounted for Tuesday night, after a massive fire quickly engulfed a four-story brick rooming house in New Bedford’s North End. When emergency crews arrived, multiple people were hanging out of windows needing to be rescued, New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said.
Who owns the Acushnet Avenue rooming house?
“Seeing if I could see anybody like friends around here, I don’t know where they are and some friends that I know I haven’t seen them. “I had to jump off like towards the second (floor) on the balcony and on the back of it … and I jumped over the railing, and I got on a ladder and jumped the rest to get away from the smoke and all that,” he said. According to Connie Correia, the social services manager for the Salvation Army in New Bedford, they served an estimated 27 people. "It's best after a situation like this being able to have someone to support you because losing everything you own or a friend you might have lost in the fire is just very important after a fire like this," he said. They are supported by New Bedford Inspectional Services, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section, and the Department of Fire Services Code Compliance & Enforcement Unit.
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Rent for each one-room unit was listed at $170 per week at the time of the fire. Former tenants able to escape the building, who asked not to be identified, said they lived there for the cheap rent and never thought about the building’s fire safety conditions. “We don’t take these things lightly,” New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said in an interview Wednesday. The mayor and Chief Kruger met on Wednesday to discuss efforts to bring rooming houses into compliance with fire code and prevent future fires, according to the mayor’s chief of staff. All residents of the four-story rooming house were displaced by the fire. On Friday, Quinn's office identified the second victim as Wayne Bourdon, 63.
After a devastating fire, New Bedford is cracking down on rooming houses. Here's how.
"People needed help with licenses and state IDs, birth certificates; Walgreens was there helping people with prescriptions they lost; there was a guy there who was in the Army and was trying to get his DD214," said Hall. "You just think about everything that sits in your lock box or a drawer that you don’t think about daily. All that stuff is gone." Matos tells 12 News she was at work when the fire tore through the building, killing two tenants and injuring at least five others. More than two dozen tenants were displaced, including Matos and her fiancé.
Mitchell 'grateful' for fire department's work
In May 2022, Arsenault resigned as sole trustee of the real estate firm, registered as “Royal Crown Realty Trust,” and made Kenneth Hoffman the trustee. The city and the fire department have yet to release information on whether the building had recently been inspected or if it was up to date on all fire codes. Massachusetts State Fire marshals, New Bedford police and the District Attorney’s office are all assisting the fire department in the ongoing investigation. The building was declared structurally unsound and is set to be demolished. The fire department used an excavator to begin tearing it down, starting with the top floor facing east and working downward. The facade of the building was brick while the interior frame was wood.
Two people have died after a deadly fire tore through a four-story rooming house in New Bedford Tuesday afternoon. One of the people who died has been identified as Manuel Moreira, a 59-year-old who lived on the fourth floor, the Bristol County District Attorney's Office said Wednesday. Manuel Moreira, 59, lived on the fourth floor and was found Tuesday night, while another person was found Wednesday afternoon. Thick, black smoke shrouded the neighborhood as flames quickly engulfed the building.
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Victim of massive New Bedford rooming house fire identified - WCVB Boston
Victim of massive New Bedford rooming house fire identified.
Posted: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The fire that ripped through a North End rooming house last week, leaving two dead and one in critical condition, was ruled an accident. But the 31-unit building had multiple fire code violations at the time of the deadly blaze, the fire department confirmed Wednesday. The fire — determined to have stemmed from a second-floor tenant's microwave and/or the electrical outlet it was plugged into — resulted in increased scrutiny on sprinkler statute enforcement of New Bedford rooming houses. At the time of the fire, the Royal Crown had not yet installed its system, but it has since been confirmed the landlords were well into the process, having been granted a building permit for installation on March 23, only five days before the fire. Prior to that, work completed included having plans drafted and reviewed, and looking for a contractor to tie in a city water supply. Fire crews reported seeing heavy smoke and flames and occupants hanging from the windows and jumping from the building to escape the danger inside.
Many regional fire departments provided mutual aid, Wark said, and an ambulance task force was activated to assist in patient care and transport. “The bulk of the fire has been knocked down and crews will remain on scene through the night,” he said. The building partially collapsed, New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger told media at the scene, according to WJAR-TV in Providence.
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Second body found in New Bedford rooming house fire - The New Bedford Light
Second body found in New Bedford rooming house fire.
Posted: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The Salvation Army will be meeting with other local emergency management partners and survivors to determine additional needs this week. Dartmouth, Acushnet and Fairhaven fire departments provided mutual aid to assist with the fire. Westport, Marion, Wareham, Lakeville and Freetown provided ambulance services as an ambulance task force.
"Given the unique challenges facing the affected individuals, I have directed our team to consider the use of federal funds to further extend the transitional housing support already being provided," Mayor Jon Mitchell said in a statement provided on April 14. NEW BEDFORD — Residential fires are a regular occurrence, but not every one results in as many as 27 residents — possibly more by some accounts — being put out of a home with nowhere to go, and unable to afford other living arrangements. I tried making it down the stairs and I couldn’t … the fire was coming up too quickly,” he told a reporter. In the past, city officials have described the nature of the licensing process as a prompt to require the scheduling of inspections, often after issuance. But from there, if landlords don't comply within an allotted timeframe, Mitchell said "then it may come to the possibility of pulling a license."
He said the injuries were varied, the result of smoke inhalation, fire and jumping out of the windows. "Individuals who live in rooming houses, by and large, are more vulnerable than some other residents," said Josh Amaral, director of New Bedford's Office of Housing and Economic Development, which is one of the city entities that has taken part in relief efforts. "It’s a difficult population to rehouse, and it’s a difficult climate to rehouse anyone anyway." According to Lima and others, rooming houses like the Royal Crown offer an alternative for residents who cannot afford a typical one- or two-bedroom apartment. Unlike the typical monthly rates for most rental units, many of the Royal Crown residents afforded their living arrangements on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Building blueprints show residents shared bathrooms with their floormates.
The remainder of the building was deemed structurally unsound and was demolished in the days following the fire. The Red Cross and Salvation Army Disaster Team were seen Tuesday night helping out residents. New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger said about five others were taken to a hospital, with two people in serious condition. Five occupants with injuries were removed from the building and taken to St. Luke’s Emergency Department, with one person in serious condition while one man in critical condition was taken to Rhode Island Hospital.
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