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LOWELL — The multi-family home at 12 Osgood St. sat open to the elements on Saturday afternoon, its shattered windows offering a clear view up through the space where the roof had burned away several hours earlier.
What turned out to be a two-alarm fire at the two-story structure was first reported at about 5:15 a.m. Saturday, when arriving crews found flames overtaking the attic.
Lowell Deputy Fire Chief Joe Roth said nine residents were displaced, though the building’s owner was able to provide another home for them to stay in.
“There was significant damage to the top floor, with the roof half burnt off,” Roth said. “Significant water and smoke damage throughout the whole building.”
“Uninhabitable at this time,” he added.
He stopped short of saying the structure would be a total loss, but added “there’s a lot of reconstruction there.”
Firefighters remained on scene for hours extinguishing hot spots, working in temperatures that dipped below zero overnight.
Roth said the extreme cold created some problems for crews.
“Ice, slips and falls,” he said, describing the challenges.
A supply line going into the engine truck in front of the building froze during overhaul operations, forcing crews to replace it. Some hand lines also froze.
Roth said the last of the crews left the scene at about 10:30 a.m.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
In the afternoon, the damage was evident at the home, with singed debris — including a pair of mattresses — lying on the ice-coated ground outside the structure. Icicles created by the water used to battle the flames hung off the home’s siding and from the branches of nearby trees.
The top of the structure’s brick chimney lay severed in a snowbank next to the building.
A woman who lives across the narrow street pointed out the sheet of ice completely covering her daughter’s car from the firefighting water, along with black embers still scattered across it.
A sign posted on the boarded-up front door of 12 Osgood St. stated, “Danger,” followed by “this structure is deemed unsafe for human occupation,” and “it is unlawful for any person to enter or occupy.”
Saturday morning’s blaze came less than two days after another two-alarm fire caused significant damage to a single-family home at 20 Otis St. That fire was also fought in sub-freezing temperatures, though the conditions were not as severe.
No injuries were reported in that fire, which also remains under investigation.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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Aaron Curtis
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