PEABODY — A three-alarm fire significantly damaged two multifamily homes near the Peabody-Salem line Tuesday morning, during which an off-duty firefighter was able to rush into one unit and save a dog before first responders arrived.
Both the Salem and Peabody firefighters received a string of calls about a fire at 38 Pierpont St. in Peabody shortly before 11 a.m. and quickly responded, Peabody Fire Chief Jay Dowling said.
They found three porches on the back of the building fully engulfed in flames when they arrived at the scene as well as flames spreading into the attic of a building behind it at 60 Aborn St., which has a convenience store on the first floor and two residential units above it, Dowling said.
But Peabody firefighter Shaun Farrell got there first after hearing the call come in while he was at home just around the corner, Dowling said.
Farrell was able to get into the second-floor unit of the Aborn Street building and rescue a dog who was home alone at the time.
“The owner arrived shortly thereafter, and we had put (the dog) in one of our Fire Department cars,” Dowling said. “We got her back to the owner and she was very thankful.”
Seven people who lived in the two buildings are displaced by the fire, which was knocked down within an hour, he said.
No one was injured.
The building on Pierpont looked like it had been renovated within the last year and only two of its three units were occupied. There’s a chance the building is a total loss, but the city’s building inspector was still examining the property Tuesday afternoon, Dowling said.
The fire caused extensive damage to the attic of the Aborn Street building, as well as water and smoke damage in other areas of the home.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Contact Caroline Enos at CEnos@northofboston.com.