Disposal of cigarette said to be cause of Peabody blaze

PEABODY - Careless disposal of a cigarette is said to be the spark that ignited the fast moving blaze that ripped through an apartment building at the Highlands at Dearborn complex Thursday.

According to Fire Chief Steven Pasdon, officials determined the point of origin from smoking materials scattered around the base of building number eight which went up in flames.

"We started looking below the gas meters, dug down, and found multiple cigarette butts," he said. "Basically the cigarettes ignited the mulch, which then went up to the side of the building, and possibly compromised the natural gas line. The gas line certainly contributed, but it wasn't the primary reason."

Pasdon said the State Fire Marshal's office, Peabody police, Peabody fire, and officials from a number of neighboring communities determined the cause around 5 p.m. Friday.

"It was witness driven and a team effort," he said.

The multi-alarm blaze was finally extinguished around 11 p.m. Thursday, but Pasdon said several hot spots and a secondary fire ignited in another area of the complex Friday.

Joe Jolly, a resident of building nine, which faces the burned structure, previously said he recently witnessed several small mulch fires around the complex.

"For the last couple of months, there have been spot fires everywhere," he said.

While Pasdon said dozens of fires are caused every day due to the improper disposal of smoking materials, the extent of Thursday's blaze was stunning.

"I've had a number of big fires happen in my career, but this may be the biggest fire I've ever encountered that was caused by careless disposal of cigarettes," he said. "The fire just went up the building and fanned out."

State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan blamed an outdated sprinkler system for the incredible blaze, and said it was designed to allow residents to quickly escape, but not designed for property conservation.

Roughly 1,000 of the complex's residents, including the 43 residents inside Building 8, were evacuated and displaced Thursday night.

The blaze burned for several hours with plumes of smoke visible for miles, and is estimated to have caused millions of dollars in damages.

Hundreds of residents of the complex were slowly being allowed back into their homes Friday, while hundreds more will remain displaced into the weekend.

In March 2007, a blaze destroyed two apartments in building number three in the same complex, causing $1 million in damages, and forced two dozen units to be evacuated.

That blaze also reportedly started near a gas line.

July 2009

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