LOCAL NEWS

Neighbors slow to react to fire alarms: Two hospitalized after flames scorch kitchen

By Julia Spitz
Monday, September 9, 2002

ASHLAND - A call from a neighbor whose apartment was filling with smoke led firefighters to a kitchen fire that sent twin toddlers to the hospital yesterday morning.

"I was in the shower, and my mother came in and said there was smoke," said Feriel Sarrah, 14, who lives in Apt. 5 at the Chestnut Street Apartments' Building 14. "I got out (out of the shower) and called 911, and she told me to pull the fire (alarm) to get everyone out."

When firefighters arrived at about 10:15 a.m., they checked the apartments on both sides of the first-floor unit and found a kitchen fire in Apt. 7.

There were five people, including the 15-month-old twins, in Apt. 7 when firefighters arrived, said Fire Chief William Kee.

The children, whose names are not being released, were taken to MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham to be checked for smoke inhalation, firefighters said.

"Some things are just hard to explain," Kee said when asked why the residents of No. 7 were still in the apartment while the cabinet above the stove was on fire and alarms were sounding throughout the building. "I've been doing this for 23 years and I still see things that just make me shake my head."

Evacuating the building "was the hardest part," said Fire Lt. Keith Robie.

Residents said there have been several false alarms in recent weeks.

"I was in my bedroom watching TV, watching Fox news, and I didn't hear the alarm," said Marilyn Barresi, who lives directly above Apt. 7. "I heard the firefighters, that's when we go out.

"We've had two fake alarms in the past month. Someone's been pulling the alarm," said Barresi.

"(The alarm is) always going off," said Charlene Marlow, who lives on the second floor of the three-story building. But Marlow and her son Brennan were among those who got out of the building as soon as the alarm sounded.

"Better to take the precaution," she said.

Only about 10 percent of the residents of the 24-unit building left when the alarm first went off, Kee said. Firefighters went door-to-door to get everyone out.

"I was sleeping," said a third-floor resident who refused to give his name but said he had lived there for about five years. "A friend from another building (saw what was going on and) called me to get out."

Although the cause is still under investigation, the fire seems to have started from food cooking on the stove, Kee said, and moved up to the cabinets.

"It was contained to the one apartment," said Kee, who estimated the damaged at about $10,000.

High-pressure fans were used to air out the building and get rid of the smoke, said firefighter Peter Chisholm.

Residents returned to their apartments by 11:15 a.m. The kitchen in Apt. 7 is unusable, Kee said, but the rest of the units were unscathed.

Youngsters forced to wait in the parking lot while firefighters put out the flames got to lend a hand once the fire was extinguished.

"We got to roll up the hoses," said Brennan Marlow, who was among the half-dozen children from neighboring apartments who helped firefighters get ready to leave.

The youngsters received red plastic fire helmets as mementos of a job well done.

"They love to do that stuff," Kee said of the young helpers.

Even the adults were impressed.

"(Firefighters) are heroes to me," said Barresi. "It's like seeing someone with a Purple Heart in the service. I have so much respect for firefighters and policemen (since Sept. 11)."

(News staff writer Norman Miller contributed to this report.)