Lowell families displaced after apartment building fire
LOWELL – Two families in Lowell have been forced out of their homes after a fire tore through an apartment building. Cell phone video shows fire on the roof of the multi-unit apartment building on Broadway Street in Lowell Tuesday.
"I see black smoke coming up from the middle of the top of the building and then I actually see two or three people on the roof," said Ibrahim Tawadros. "Then I picked up the phone and dialed 911."
Just up the road, a Lowell mother leaving the grocery store also noticed the same thick black smoke.
"I didn't think it was my apartment until the guy from the store ended up calling me and said, 'I think your apartment is on fire,'" the resident named Christina said.
Everyone did get out safely but water and smoke badly damaged two units.
"I was crying so much because I've never been through this before," Christina said.
Hours later, the family of seven waited for their cab to sleep at a hotel.
"I'm so happy that my kids are fine, but it does suck," Christina said. "All my stuff is all messed up."
The Red Cross hotel voucher covers four days, but the family expects to be displaced longer than that. Investigators are still looking into what caused the fire on the roof where a crew had been working.