LYNN — At 8:21 p.m. on Friday, February 21, 2025, the Lynn Fire Regional Dispatch Center received a 911 call from 60 Estes Street reporting a fire in a three-story wood-frame, six-unit apartment building. Lynn’s Fire Department’s Engine Company 5 was the first on scene, followed quickly by Engine Companies 1 and 3, Ladder Company 1, H-1, and C-4.
Upon arrival, Engine Company 5 Captain Kevin Downey observed smoke from a second-floor window and, by 8:26 p.m., declared it a working fire. This prompted the arrival of Ladder Company 2, Tower Company 4, and Medic Company 1. While Engine Company 5 advanced a line to the second floor and Ladder Company 1 began an initial search, H-1 safety Officer Lieutenant Paul Ricchi reported heavy fire at the rear of the building spreading toward a nearby 1938 wood-frame church just 10 feet away.
District Chief Robert Macintosh arrived on scene at 8:31 p.m. and, assuming command, ordered a second alarm, which brought Engine Companies 7, 9, and 10. As crews reported flames breaching walls and roofs in the original fire building (60 Estes Street), the fire began affecting the church’s roofline. Engine Company 3 Lt. Scott Barnard warned that the fire had control of the church and there an imminent collapse in part of the building, the Lynn Fire Department said in a statement posted to Facebook early Saturday afternoon.
At 8:45 p.m., Chief Macintosh escalated the response with a third alarm, calling in additional units from Swampscott, Melrose, Saugus, and a Revere ladder. With 20-mile-per-hour winds and burning power lines hampering efforts to connect to distant hydrants, crews deployed elevated master streams and large hose lines. Lt. Barnard confirmed that the church was fully involved and collapse was imminent.
A fourth alarm was ordered simultaneously, adding engines from Salem, Marblehead, Peabody, and Swampscott Tower, as operations shifted to a defensive posture. Large embers began blowing east toward Broad, Atlantic, and Breed streets. Engine Company 5, having cleared the original building, initiated evacuations of neighboring structures on Broad Street, (specifically, 1, 3, and 5 Broad Street). This led to a fifth alarm, with further support arriving from Revere, Lynnfield, and a Chelsea Ladder, along with a Boston engine requested for water supply.
Firefighters used multiple large handlines and five master streams to contain the blaze, the Lynn Fire Department said in its statement. The church’s second floor eventually collapsed, forcing the front wall onto the sidewalk; however, an adjacent automotive shop and a two-and-a-half-story house were spared.
At least 18 residents were displaced from the apartment building. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Atlantic EMS quickly mobilized shelter and rehab services—with an MBTA bus even utilized for temporary shelter. Crews remained on scene well into the night to extinguish lingering hot spots. Despite icy conditions that caused several slips, no firefighters were injured, and only one occupant from the apartment building required transportation for evaluation.
Mutual aid units began to withdraw as the fire began to subside. The incident remains under investigation by the Lynn Fire Investigation Unit and the Massachusetts State Police fire marshal’s office.
