2 Multi-Family Homes Destroyed In Suspicious Lawrence Fire

LAWRENCE (CBS) - Two multi-family homes were destroyed in what's being called a suspicious fire in Lawrence early Thursday morning.

Fire chief Brian Moriarty said flames broke out around 4 a.m. in a vacant two-and-half-story duplex under construction on Grainger Street and then spread to a triple-decker behind it on East Cambridge Street.

The chief said quick action by firefighters help save six other buildings nearby.  No one was hurt.  A nearby garage was damaged in the fire.

There's no word yet on a cause but Moriarty said the fact that the fire started in a vacant building "definitely raises suspicion."

The chief told WBZ-TV three families lost their apartments in the fire.

"The firefighters did such a good job of getting right on top of it," Mayor Dan Rivera told reporters. "We could probably have lost another three homes."

"I woke up to the sound of the crackling and when I looked to my window, the whole thing was like flames.  When I opened the curtains, all I seen was red, fire," resident Maggie Caceres told WBZ-TV.

"When I came out everything in the back was already on fire."

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karyn Regal reports

• Nicole Jacobs