Construction crews began demolishing the remains of Saturday’s fire in East Cambridge today. The 10-alarm fire devastated 15 structures and left more than 21 families displaced.
Berkshire Street residents Helia Dutra and David Tucker stood holding hands outside their home, just yards from the burnt ruins of their neighbors’.
“This used to be a daycare,” Tucker said, referencing a nearby building.
“I don’t know where those poor little kids are going to go,” Dutra said.
A former church that had been turned into low-income housing also perished in the fire. The cause of the fire remains unknown, but is under investigation.
“We have detectives that are assigned to the arson squad and they will be working with the State Fire Marshal’s office and the Cambridge fire arson unit to determine what happened,” Police Deputy Superintendent Jack Albert said.
Many officials and neighbors believe the fire may have been set off by accident by a construction crew working on a house on Berkshire street.
“It was an old house that was being remodeled and they had been working on it constantly day and night,” Tucker said.
Tucker is familiar with the construction business and said he noticed how fast the work was proceeding on this particular house.
“When I left for work yesterday morning there were gentlemen on the roof of the house that was being reconstructed,” he said. “There were people working in there constantly during the day, late hours in the evening. If you’re up on a pump jack system on the side of a house at 8 o’clock at night at this time of year, there is no light. They’re making their own light, so they were trying to get this done in a hurry.”
The building was one of several being reconstructed in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, where the demand for housing is high. It is even higher now that nearly 100 people are displaced from their homes due to the fire.
Despite the destruction, there were no deaths and few injuries. Cambridge Fire Chief Gerald Reardon said it could have been worse.
“Fortunately it was daylight when this happened,” Reardon said. “People were awake, weren’t sleeping. We’re just very fortunate right now.”
In the aftermath, residents are coming to terms with the tragedy. The Red Cross is setting up shelters and working to provide basic needs to those affected, including medical and mental health services.
“You’ve gotta take it for what it’s worth,” Tucker said, sympathizing with his neighbors. “It’s hard because people we know have nothing anymore.”
He and Dutra both agreed that they are fortunate, indeed.
These photos were taken the night of the fire and the morning after as fire-fighters, inspectors, police officers and neighborhood residents took in the extent of the damage.
