fb-pixelMore than $250,000 raised for victims of massive Cambridge fire - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

More than $250,000 raised for victims of massive Cambridge fire

A large blaze struck several buildings in Cambridge on Saturday, Dec. 3.
A large blaze struck several buildings in Cambridge on Saturday, Dec. 3.

On Sunday, Red Cross officials packed up their shelter gear at Memorial Hall on Cambridge Street, where the night before 80 cots had sat empty despite the 10-alarm fire in a Cambridge neighborhood that displaced more than 100 people, officials said.

“There’s just no interest, which is a good thing,” said Red Cross spokesman Jeff Hall. “That means people are finding places to stay on their own.”

Shelters, by definition, are not the most hospitable environments for the displaced, Hall said. Many of the people who passed through the shelter Saturday ultimately slept at the homes of friends or family.

City officials said the enormous blaze damaged 15 buildings and forced 104 people, including 48 families to seek Red Cross support.

Advertisement



“The Red Cross has really stepped up,” police spokesman Jeremy Warnick said. “As they always do.”

The city is asking displaced residents to register with the Red Cross, which allows the organization to assess the community’s needs and distribute relief funding.

On Sunday, eight Red Cross case workers met with some displaced residents at the Youth Center to gauge their needs while crews began cleaning up the rubble left by the blaze.

As of Sunday afternoon, Hall said the Red Cross registered 21 of the estimated 48 displaced families.

Displaced people can continue to register with the Red Cross on the second floor of Cambridge City Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Representatives from multiple civic and aid organizations will be present to offer counsel.

Phone registration is available by calling the Red Cross at 800-564-1234.

Despite the help of well-wishers who dropped off food, clothing, or other supplies at the Memorial Hall shelter Saturday, Warnick said the city asks only for cash donations, which are more easily and equitably distributed to those in need.

Advertisement



“The focus is trying to get people to commit to supporting the fund . . . with whatever people can generously provide,” Warnick said.

Donations can be made online through the Mayor’s Go Fund Me page. Checks made out to The Mayor’s Fire Relief Fund can be dropped off at City Hall or mailed to Cambridge City Hall, c/o Mayor’s Office; 795 Massachusetts Ave.; Cambridge, MA 02139.

As of 1:30 a.m. Monday, barely 24 hours after Mayor E. Denise Simmons established the fund, 3,920 people had donated a combined $259,521, , the average donation being $66.

Simmons’s office raised the funding goal for the online campaign from $200,000 to $500,000. The city surpassed its original goal quickly and encouraged people to keep giving. “The financial need for these families is much greater than $200,000,” Simmons said.

Crews continued working at the scene of the fire on Sunday morning.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Charred cars lined the street.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Mohammed Badsha Bepari was overcome by his family's loss in the fire. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/Globe Staff
Sahida Akter (left), whose family lost everything in the fire, was comforted by another woman. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Vanessa Ribeiro (left) comforted Akter. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
A resident was reunited with a pet on Sunday.Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

Amanda Burke can be reached at amanda.burke@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @charlie_acb.