Southbridge Community Comes Together After 7-Alarm Fire

Southbridge Firefighter Kolin Matthews said he and his team were originally dispatched at 3:23 a.m. Nov. 13 for a two-structure fire with two cars engulfed in flames.

“I’ve been with the department for six years, and this is one of the larger-scale fires that we’ve had in quite some time,” Matthews said.

When the teams and fire trucks arrived, Matthews said he felt stressed knowing how many lives the fire affected.

“Unfortunately, nobody likes to see people displaced, and with apartment buildings or multifamily buildings that are that big, you know there’s going to be a lot of families displaced,” Matthews said.

Over 30 Southbridge residents lost their homes and belongings in the fire. Town social media pages like “Southbridge First” on Facebook gained lots of attention, with residents posting ways to help and collecting donations for those affected. Southbridge Firefighter and Paramedic Patrick Normandin said the social media presence was instant.

“I don’t even think the last flames were out, and people were already on the social media pages saying, ‘How can we help?’ and saying, ‘How can we make a difference for some of these people?’” Normandin said. “In theory, if there’s six families in each building, that’s a pretty substantial number of town residents who need assistance.”

Resident Nathan Loos created a post shared nearly 400 times on multiple Southbridge Facebook pages. Loos said he waited for people to wake up in the morning to put out a call to action.

“I mean they lost everything, and anything that we think we could help, and the immediate 12-hour window, everyone continued to look to me on my post,” Loos said.

From toothbrushes, new underwear and sizes from toddler to men’s 5XL, Loos, with the help of the Southbridge Fire Department, attracted the attention of the Southbridge Community Center and YMCA, which gave its gymnasiums as shelters and donation drop-offs. Matthews said the good part about the relief was how fast the community came together.

“There was quick action from the town and the fire chief to set up a shelter so they were out of the cold,” he said. “It was one of the colder nights of the year– it went below freezing, so it was good to get them off the streets and into somewhere warm.”

During the fire and its destructive aftermath, local businesses posted that they were open and safe places to seek shelter and to give first responders a 20% off discount, like Moon Magick Cafe, owned and operated by Southbridge resident Cheyenne Grenier.

“The fire happened right down the road from us,” Grenier said. “I just wanted to post saying that we were open to say, ‘Hey, just a reminder we’re here and a safe place to come,’ like not saying you had to buy anything.”

Around two hours after Cheyenne posted on the business’s Facebook page, she received a call from her mom, saying that other residents were posting comments and backlash on her post.

“She goes, it’s bad — like people are attacking you right now and it’s getting incredibly vicious.”

Many people on Facebook thought Grenier’s post was disrespectful by using the fire as a way to make money, which Grenier said was not the case.

“Everything got misconstrued completely,” Grenier said. “First responders get 20% off forever and always here. And people kept saying I should be giving everything for free to everyone. As a small business owner, I can’t do that.”

Many residents supported Moon Magick Cafe by going to the store and giving donations after the online backlash. The cafe received over $200, which Grenier used to buy the Southbridge Police and Fire Departments coffees, pastries and breakfast sandwiches — all of which they received for free.

“I wanted to give back, so I took the donations that we received and paid forward and did a good thing instead,” Grenier said.

On Dec. 4, the Southbridge Fire Department released a statement that the Union Street Fire resulted from arson.

“The seven-alarm fire in Southbridge that displaced 12 families last month was intentionally set and investigators are asking anyone with information on the incident to contact the Arson Watch Reward Hotline at 1-800-682-9229.”