Damage Is Severe, But Residents Glad No One Injured In Charlestown Fire
CHARLESTOWN (CBS) -- A six-alarm fire raged through a Charlestown building on Friday, a dangerously cold and icy day. Hot spots even flared up Saturday.
The flames left just a shell of the structure coated in ice, displacing about 20 people and destroying a neighborhood business.
Firefighters put out the Friday morning blaze at 144 Bunker Hill Street in near-zero temperatures, but not before it ripped through peoples' homes and a laundromat known for being featured in the Ben Affleck movie, "The Town." Residents and neighbors are still reeling from the flames, but they are grateful no one was hurt.
"It's a big tragedy. I would never expect this building to actually go up because there are a lot of people that lived here and they're all decent people and the laundromat's always been up and running and well," Rene Menard said.
Friends of Monument Laundromat owners started a GoFundMe page to raise money to support them.
The fire caused about $2 million in damage and the cause is still under investigation.
A man who said he owns the property was back at the scene Saturday making sure everything was secure.
"Everybody made it out thank God huh? So sad but everyone made it out no one got hurt, that's the good thing that's amazing," Dylan Zimmerle, a Charlestown resident, said. "Yeah obviously it's sad ... but you know everyone made it out alive that's all that matters in the holiday season."
The building suffered severe damage, but the flames did not spread to nearby buildings.