Resource Center At Cambridge City Hall Aims To Help Residents After 'Devastating' Fire
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) -- After a 10-alarm fire tore through a Cambridge neighborhood Saturday, the city set up a Fire Recovery Resource Center at City Hall to help people like Joe Buswell and his wife, who lost both their home and their business to the flames.
"My wife's been there 60 years," Buswell said. "That's where we live and our income was there too, so we don't have a house and we don't have a job anymore."
The Buswells ran a daycare from the home that had been in their family for more than 100 years. It now stands burned, but city officials hope both the recovery center and a growing fire relief fund can help residents like the Buswells who lost so much.
On Monday, Cambridge opened City Hall's second floor for the Fire Recovery Resource Center, where residents impacted by the blaze can connect with the Red Cross and other helping agencies. So far, the city says 104 people from 48 families impacted by the fire have registered with the Red Cross, though more might have been affected and not yet registered. Anyone displaced or impacted by the blaze is encouraged to register at the recovery center or over the phone at 800-564-1234.
"We don't want - particularly children - to be without services, support, shelter, food," Mayor Denise Simmons said.
At least 28 of the people displaced by the fire are school-aged children.
At the center, impacted residents can connect with the city officials, the Red Cross, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the state's Division of insurance, Division of Transitional Assistance, Department of Housing and Development, Department of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, National Organizational Voluntary Active Disaster, and Riverside Community Care.
The city also set up a fire relief fund Saturday night as the flames still burned, which has well exceeded the original $200,000 goal. As of Monday afternoon, the fund had accumulated nearly $353,000. To donate to the fund, visit cambridgema.gov/firefund or mail a check to Mayor's Fire Relief Fund, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.
The city is currently asking people not to donate food, clothing or other materials to the fire relief effort.
The Recovery Resource Center will run from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday on the 2nd floor of City Hall. The city has also set up a phone line for impacted residents at 617-349-9484.
On Sunday, firefighters tore down burned buildings at risk of collapse. It's still unclear how the fire started, Assistant Fire Chief Gerard Mahoney said, though the State Fire Marshal believes the flames started at or near 35 Berkshire Street.
"It's still technically an active investigation, although I think the work at the scene is basically done," Mahoney said. "It will be some time before we have a final determination."
There is no evidence the fire was started intentionally.
One possible point of origin, the assistant chief says -- a home that was under renovation or possibly the one next to it.
"So you had a building that was wide open. All that was in there was wood so obviously plenty to burn," Mahoney added.
On Monday afternoon, Eversource had restored power to all the buildings able to receive it. About 58 customers remain without power.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports
