Man recounts frantic attempt to warn neighbors in Worcester fire that killed 4
A man who survived a devastating fire that claimed the lives of four people in Worcester, Massachusetts, said he is haunted by the faces the neighbors he tried to save.
“I didn't realize it was going to go up so fast. The whole building was on fire. It was on the third floor in like, 40 seconds or less,” said survivor Manuel Lucero.
Lucero lived in a first floor apartment at 2 Gage St. He said it was his carbon monoxide detectors in his living room that woke him up around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.
“I felt like a heat coming from the window in the back, so I opened the back door and there's a staircase that leads down to the basement and I saw a glow coming from the bottom of the staircase,” he said.
Lucero pounded on as many doors as he could to alert neighbors.
Two people were found dead in the immediate aftermath of the fire, but two more victims were pulled from the rubble Monday. Several other residents were injured.
Renee Fontaine’s brother, Marcel, 29, was one of the victims. He lived on the third floor.
“He was so smart. He was autistic and proud of being autistic and he was gay. And he was proud,” she said.
Renee Fontaine said her brother was big part of the Worcester music community and worked at the Palladium and Bear Mountain Rehab Center as an activity coordinator.
“The reason why I'm speaking to this is because he was the most out-there person. He wouldn't want anything to be private,” Renee Fontaine said.
Officials have not released the names of the victims.
“We have completed the search and we don't believe there are any additional victims,” Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus said.
The search of the building was hampered because the flames caused so much structural damage and because one of the tenants had a bunch of exotic snakes in their apartment. Many of the snakes lived and had to be taken out in bins before it was safe to sort through the charred building.
Lucero, a UMass graduate student, lost everything in the fire. He said he is haunted by the familiar faces upstairs that he couldn’t save.
“I think people didn't realize it was even happening because it's not as loud as you think. You know, the movies make it seem like a grand ordeal that makes a whole scene. But in reality, it's like a split-second decision that can also mean your life,” he said.
The building is a total loss, and the cause of the fire is under investigation by city officials and the ATF.
Survivors and neighbors worry this wasn't an accident.
“I think (it was suspicious). I absolutely think so. Without a doubt,” he said. “Because it's just so strange that that fire just came out if nowhere. It came from the basement, too, and that door is always open.”