By Chris Camire
The Lowell Sun
DRACUT, Mass. — The Dracut Fire Department is used to answering alarms at the condominiums at the end of 18th Street. Most of the time a steamy shower or a burnt dinner triggers the devices.
So fire firefighters were surprised to see thick black smoke pouring from 244 18th Street, Unit 2, yesterday morning when they drove up to answer an alarm.
No one at the housing complex had called in to report the blaze.
“The building would have been gone,” said Rich Patterson, the Fire Department’s deputy chief. “The alarm did it’s job.”
Bags of clothing left against a base-board electric heater in the dining room sparked the fire, according to Patterson.
No one was home at the time, and the fire was contained to one unit.
The bottom floor had heavy fire damage. The top floor sustained smoke damage.
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