8 Feared Dead as Blaze Guts Dilapidated Rooming House

LYNN, Mass. — A fire raged out of control for three hours and gutted a dilapidated rooming house early today, forcing tenants to swing from ropes and leap to neighboring roofs because there were no exterior fire escapes. Three people were killed, and up to five are feared dead in the rubble.

The investigation and search for bodies was delayed while a crane was brought in to clear rubble of the five-story brick building.

The city had previously filed a criminal complaint against the owner of the Ben Crest rooming house for failing to install a sprinkler system.

Survivors said an alarm failed to sound.

“I pulled on the fire alarm, and it broke right off in my hand,” said Dwayne Rogers, 25, a fourth-floor resident who tried to wake other tenants before escaping to an adjacent roof with Leo McDonnell, 46.

“We saw a couple of people that couldn’t reach the roof, and they got torched,” Rogers said.

McDonnell and Rogers said they lost one elderly man they had awakened on their way out.

“I turned around and Scottie wasn’t there,” McDonnell said. “There wasn’t anything more we could do.”