 Responding
quickly to the fire and its aftermanth
Michael
Sweeney
In the early morning hours of Monday,
January 21st, the City of Lawrence
experienced a huge fire that effected
hundreds of people. In total, nine
parcels of property were damaged by the
fire, with six of the properties
experiencing a total loss.
Amazingly, thanks to the Lawrence Fire
Department, not a single life was lost as
the fire raged during one of the coldest
nights of the year. Mutual aid from
thirteen different communities, including
Haverhill, Methuen, North Andover,
Lowell, and Andover, placed additional
and essential firefighters and fire
apparatus at the scene that turned out to
be critical.
The Lawrence Police Department played a
central role in working with our fire
department and in ensuring the safety of
residents in the Parker and Market Street
areas.
The outpouring of support from within and
outside the community has been amazing.
Businesses from Commonwealth Motors and
Charles Daher, Lawrence Pumps and
Salvatore’s Restaurant led the way
in providing monetary relief. The Trauma
Intervention Program led by Jayan M.
Landry and a host of non-profit agencies
all stopped their activities to focus on
the residents who had lost everything.
Dr. Wilfredo Laboy mobilized his team at
the Lawrence Public Schools to open the
South Lawrence East School to provide a
temporary safe shelter for those who were
displaced.
Mayor Michael J. Sullivan quickly placed
an emergency response team in charge of
the situation and over the next few days
Fire Chief Takvorian, Police Chief Romero
and Economic Development Director Tom
Schiavone made sure that the focused
efforts of government, businesses and
non-profits would be combined to have the
maximum impact.
Mayor Sullivan was immediately clear
about two things; first, residents
displaced by the fire had to be properly
helped and cared for: and second, that
the area of the fire, totaling over
35,000 square feet, would not be
forgotten. Mayor Sullivan made it our
priority to ensure that the area was safe
and secure and that clean up at the site
would begin immediately. The efforts of
the Building Inspectors office will be
essential in accomplishing this.
Many of those efforts took shape on
January 31st when Mayor Sullivan hosted
Congressman Niki Tsongas and State
Treasurer Tim Cahill to establish plans
to rebuild the area. Treasurer Cahill
announced an agreement with Sovereign
Bank that would provide a $5 million loan
pool to assist victims of the fire.
Following Mayor Sullivan’s theme of
rebuilding quickly, Treasurer Cahill
said, “These loans, made possible in
part by $5 million in linked deposits
from the State Treasury, will allow
property owners to rebuild and move
forward.” Congressman Tsongas was
instrumental in helping the city involve
federal agencies such as the Small
Business Administration.
Mayor Sullivan has directed his office to
work with the property owners and the
insurance companies involved to ensure
the over the next thirty days the site is
cleared of debris and that an organized
and effective rebuilding process can
begin.
P.S. THE GIANTS WIN!!!!
Michael Sweeney is the planning
director for the City of Lawrence, a
former member of the Lawrence City
Council and school committee. You can
e-mail Mr. Sweeney at Esqsweeney@aol.com.
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