Families wrestle with impacts of fatal Northborough fire

Mike Pizzarella stands in front of the hotel where his family is staying following a major fire in the building where they had been living.

By Laura Hayes Senior Community Reporter

NORTHBOROUGH - Mike Pizzarella was starting to drift to a deep sleep when he heard banging on his windows.

It was his neighbor, Lisa, yelling that there was a fire.

Mike had gone to sleep at about 10 p.m. His significant other, Erin, stayed up later, working on homework for online classes.

Mike woke up briefly around 4 a.m. He had turned the TV off and rolled over when Lisa woke him up once again.

nity Advocate. “I was thinking maybe a stove was on fire.”

Mike was in a daze as he and Erin exited their apartment at 129 Maple St. That’s when he noticed a strange smell and looked up to see flames roaring out of the windows of one of the building’s second-floor units.

Erin screamed. Her laptop with all of her homework was still inside. Mike ran back in and grabbed it.

“That’s all I grabbed was that one thing,” Mike said.

Lisa realized they didn’t wake up their neighbor. So, Mike barged through his screen door, yelling there was a fire.

The neighbor, who Mike said is a veteran and uses a walker, woke up.

“I said, ‘No, this is a serious fire. You need to get out now,’” Mike said.

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“At first, it seemed more like an overreaction,” Mike said in a recent interview with the Commu- Northborough fire | 15

Ryan Maloney, owner

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Mike continues to thank Lisa