ROCKPORT — A cat was killed and two families were displaced during a four-alarm fire on Broadway that took responding crews several hours to extinguish.
A department spokesperson said a call came in around 9:58 a.m. Sunday for reports of a strong gas odor throughout the building at 19 Broadway Ave. (at the corner of Broadway and School Street). Upon arrival, crews found that the “sky was full of smoke and there were flames showing,” according to Rockport fire Chief Mark Wonson.
“I called for mutual aid right off the bat,” Wonson said.
Crews battled the blaze for three to four hours before extinguishing it around 1 p.m., said Wonson. As of 2:30 p.m., crews remained on scene with a section of Broadway blocked off and traffic being directed around the scene.
Wonson said there were no injuries reported but one cat was deceased. The two families living in the building and the commercial businesses it housed, including the Rockport House of Pizza, have been displaced.
No cause has been determined yet but it is being investigated by the Rockport Fire Department and the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Crews from as far as Lynn also responded to the call to assist the volunteer Rockport department. That included crews from Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Essex, Middleton, Peabody, Beverly, Hamilton, Wenham, Ipswich and Danvers, as well as Beauport Ambulance.
“Everything went right through mutual aid and everything worked fine,” Wonson said of the response.
A gofundme page for those displaced by the fire has already been started and can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-families-displaced-by-rockport-fire. As of 6 p.m. Sunday, $4,020 has already been raised.
A separate fundraising page was also started for Rockport House of Pizza employees, which can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/helping-the-rockport-house-of-staff. As of 6 p.m., it had raised $830.
The Rockport DPW also notified residents Sunday they should expect to see discolored water throughout town, as a result of the numerous hydrants that were in use to fight the large fire.