Flames emerge from the roof of a three-family home at 616 Western Ave., in Gloucester, on Saturday, May 28. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department) 
A deputy fire chief oversees efforts as Gloucester firefighters battle a three-alarm fire at 616 Western Ave., early Saturday morning. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department) 
Gloucester Firefighters work at the scene of a three-alarm fire at 616 Western Ave., early Saturday morning. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department) 
Gloucester firefighters battle a three-alarm fire at 616 Western Ave., early Saturday morning. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department) 
A firefighter aims the deck gun of Engine 4 at a three-alarm house fire Gloucester Firefighters battled early Saturday morning. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department) 
Damage sustained by a three-family home at 616 Western Avenue as a result of a three-alarm fire early Saturday morning. (Photo Courtesy Gloucester Fire Department)
GLOUCESTER — Chief Eric Smith reports that the Gloucester Fire Department and mutual aid partners responded to and extinguished a 3-alarm house fire early Saturday morning.
On Saturday, May 28, at approximately 1:50 a.m., the Gloucester Fire Department responded to a report of a fire at 616 Western Ave.
Companies arrived to find fire showing from the second and third floors of a three-family home that was built in 1920. Residents had already evacuated the building.
A second alarm was struck as firefighters made an aggressive interior attack on the fire, but they were eventually forced by fire conditions to exit the home and fight the fire from the exterior.
A third alarm was eventually struck to bring more manpower to the scene, and approximately 20 off-duty Gloucester firefighters were recalled to respond to the scene and staff fire stations.
The fire was under control by about 4 a.m.
There were no reported injuries. At least eight residents were displaced by the fire. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts was notified to provide assistance to those families.
The three-family home sustained extensive structural damage. A neighboring home sustained siding damage, though firefighters were able to prevent the fire from extending to that home.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Gloucester Fire Department, with assistance from the State Police Fire & Explosion Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal’s office.
Beauport EMS and the Essex Fire Department provided mutual aid at the scene, and the Manchester-by-the-Sea, Hamilton and Danvers Fire Departments covered Gloucester stations.
“Early-morning fires are especially hazardous, so we are grateful no one was injured. Fires at this time of the day highlight the value of smoke detectors,” said Chief Smith. “I want to thank the firefighters who responded to this incident in Car 3, Rescue 1, Engines 1, 2, 3 and 4, Ladder 1, Car 4 and our mobile air trailer, as well as our mutual aid partners. Companies responded aggressively and worked together well.”