FALL RIVER — Strangers helping stran.
Former residents of the Irving Street apartment house destroyed by fire late Saturday afternoon are getting a helping hand from local nonprofit groups and individual donors.
“There’s no cutoff date. It’s going to be a long, drawn-out process for these people, unfortunately,” said Sharon Schoonover Furtado, president of the 501(c)(3) Firefighters Wives Association Inc.
Schoonover Furtado, whose husband, James, retired a year ago after a career as a Fall River firefighter, says her group has established a GoFundMe donation page called Irving Street Fire.
A terrible night: Fall River firefighters injured battling 4-alarm fire; blizzard conditions hamper efforts
City officials say seven adults and five children were left homeless after the fast-moving blaze — fueled by winds during this past weekend’s blizzard — tore through the five-unit triple decker at 140 Irving St.
None of the residents were reported injured, and there were no reports of any pets being in the building.
“I think it will be at least two months for them to get on their feet,” Schoonover Furtado said on Monday.
How to help the victims
In addition to GoFundMe cash donations, anyone who wants to donate clothes and gift cards can do so by dropping them off at New Lite Metal, inside building number 1 at 1 Father Devalles Boulevard.
Donations can be dropped off at the site from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Brian Vianna, whose nonprofit Organization Standing Together is organizing the effort, said that his friend, New Lite Metal owner Jay Bryan, offered to help by providing a drop-off site.
Specific sizes and genders of clothing that are now needed are listed on the Firefighters Wives Association Inc. Facebook page.
Vianna said that he and other volunteers will call each of the seven adults to let them know that the donation items are available.
Community turns out to lend aid
Vianna also said that Fall River’s nonprofit Citizens for Citizens has dropped off some canned goods at the Father Devalles building.
Citizens for Citizens executive director Elizabeth Berube urged any of the house fire victims to call Crystal Arpa at 508-679-0041 for information about financial assistance, for first month’s rent of a new apartment.
“They shouldn’t hesitate to call,” Berube said.
Rick Aguiar, the director of the city’s emergency management agency and deputy chief of special services for the Fall River Fire Department, said that all of the former tenants of 140 Irving St. have found temporary lodging with family members.
Aguiar said volunteers with his rehabilitation and lighting unit helped shovel snow as fire department engines and other rescue and medical vehicles arrived on scene.
A look back: A retrospective of retiring Fall River Fire Chief John Lynch’s career
Interviews with displaced victims, he said, were conducted Saturday night at the nearby Baressi Heights public housing apartment building on Pleasant Street.
The Red Cross was notified and will likely eventually provide cash vouchers to victims, Aguiar said.
Off-duty firefighter jumps into action
Firefighter Brendan Norbitt lives in the second-floor, rear apartment of the house directly next to the now-destroyed 140 Irving St.
Norbitt, 23, has been a Fall River firefighter for less than a year and a half, but he didn’t hesitate to act when he said his girlfriend told him she saw smoke and heard smoke alarms.
“I was washing dishes and could see the smoke through my kitchen window,” he said.
Norbitt says he grabbed a coat, ran outside, dialed 911 and spoke briefly to a fire lieutenant before rushing to the rear door of the smoking building.
“I reacted in the moment,” he said. “I felt it was the best thing to do.”
Norbitt says only two residents were inside when the smoke alarms went off and that one of them had already exited the building as he entered the back door.
He knocked on doors and finally came upon a man in the third-floor hallway whose apartment door was open. The tenant, Norbitt said, was struggling to open a window and had a fan running.
Real estate: Two Fall River multi-family homes sell for 60% more than they did 3 years ago
“I think he was trying to fan the air out of his apartment,” which Norbitt said was smoky but not yet ablaze. “I told him it was time to get out.”
Norbitt, along with all the residents in his six-unit apartment building, were forced to evacuate until further notice. He said that he and his girlfriend spent the night at his grandmother’s house.
“I’d like to thank all the other guys (firefighters) on scene,” he said. “Unfortunately, the house was a complete loss, but they did a great job protecting the other structures.”
Memorable first day as Fall River fire chief
Acting Fire Chief Roger St. Martin said the distance between the two apartment houses, which were separated by a driveway, was probably no more than 12 feet.
St. Martin said although firefighters are not usually encouraged to enter buildings that have caught fire without the protection of firefighting gear, he said Nesbitt deserves credit for his quick action.
“He went above and beyond to help save lives, and that’s an admirable thing as far as I’m concerned,” St. Martin said.
Fall River fire chief retires: ‘My love of this department and devotion have not waned’
St. Martin said when he was standing on Barlow Street on Saturday night just behind the burning house, he saw embers “the size of my fist blowing over my head.”
The only other structure that he says suffered damage was an abutting and already dilapidated multi-unit garage on the north side of the burning house.
St. Martin said there wasn’t a problem with fire hydrants working, but that the sheer volume of water needed made it challenging for his firefighters, who had to use various hydrants and haul hoses by hand.
Fire trucks arrived on scene Saturday at 4:51 p.m. and cleared the scene Sunday at 7:30 p.m., St. Martin said.
He said two firefighters were injured, neither of them seriously, while battling the blaze and that a third went to hospital on Sunday after waking up with a swollen knee.
St. Martin said in addition to gusts of snow and icy conditions, his seven engines and three ladder trucks had to contend with what appeared to be an illegally parked car at the corner of Pleasant and Irving streets.
One engine, he said, got “hung up” on the vehicle which had to be separated and removed. That’s in addition to an apparently disabled tow truck at the corner of Eaton and Irving streets that had to be moved.
On top of that, St. Martin said, vehicles in general were parked on both sides of Irving Street and adjoining streets in violation of a citywide, snowstorm parking ban.
“It was a hell of a first day on the job,” St. Martin said, referring to his role as acting chief replacing the recently retired Chief John Lynch.
He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Grants coming: Fall River area fire departments are getting $94,000. Here’s what they can buy.
A neighbor watches from a rear window
George Correia of 131 Barlow St. said his adult daughter late Saturday afternoon told him the house on the other side of their backyard was on fire.
“I thought it might be a little bit of hyperbole, because she sometimes exaggerates,” said Correia, who lives with his wife on the second floor of their apartment house.
“But then I could see the flames shooting out and breach the outside of the house,” he said, adding that “I could see the flames licking the walls. And embers were flying everywhere.”
Correia described the visual imagery as “rather impressive” and said it conjured memories of the spectacular and devastating Notre Dame church fire of 1982 that destroyed a number of surrounding buildings.
“The fire department did a hell of a job,” said Correia, 68. “Just watching them struggle with the hoses in the snow — you can’t pay me enough.”
Charles Winokoor may be reached at cwinokoor@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism and subscribe to The Herald News today.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River house fire on Irving Street spurs Gofundme donations