Two people died on Sunday night, after a two-alarm fire raged through a northern Massachusetts home.
Fitchburg authorities told the Sentinel & Enterprise that three other people were wounded by the fire at 53 East St. late Sunday evening.
According to WBZ-TV, one of the deceased victims was described as a woman in her late 30s, while the other was a man in his early 20s.
Fitchburg Fire Chief Kevin D. Roy told the Boston Herald that officials were called to the house at about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. When crews first arrived on the scene, large plumes of dark smoke were visible from the opposite side of the street. The two-story home was almost entirely enveloped in flames by the time fire rescue teams showed up.
Five other people, all thought to be family members, lived in the house. They managed to escape the fatal fire, the Boston Herald reported - one mother and her two kids fled through a window, two others walked through the front door while the remaining residents exited through the basement.
Representatives from the Fire Marshal's office told the Sentinel & Enterprise that a home nearby sustained some damage. The house at 53 East St. was completely destroyed.
Fire officials said the cause of the blaze is still unclear, but an initial investigation suggests it was not an act of arson.
According to radio reports, the first deceased person was found in the house at around 11:45 p.m. The second person was discovered on the second floor of the home about 15 minutes later.
American Red Cross officials came to assist fire authorities, and lent a hand to four of the seven people who were displaced by the fire. Two of the children in the home were sent to stay with their grandparents, while two adults were given hotel rooms to stay for the evening.
