By STEVE FREKER
MALDEN — Malden fire officials are still investigating the cause of a two-alarm fire which ripped through the third floor of a home on Neilon Park Sunday.
No one was injured in the city’s third major fire since December.
Six families were left homeless but they sheltered in a bus provided by the MBTA at the request of the Red Cross of Massachusetts as firefighters battled the blaze.
The fire came on one of the coldest nights of the year, causing considerable damage to the six-unit home on a square cul-de-sac off of upper Salem Street near the high school and Central fire station.
Firefighters responded after a passerby ran a block and half from the fire scene and rang the Central station bell at Sprague and Salem streets.
Malden Fire Chief Kevin Finn said firefighters could see smoke spreading across the neighborhood as they responded. All the occupants of the home were evacuated before firefighters arrived.
Finn said alarms were sounding in the building when firefighters arrived, but he was unable to confirm if individual smoke detectors were working or had alerted residents to the blaze.
Finn said the fire spread through the building, forcing firefighters to pull open ceilings.
“They did a tremendous job,” Finn said.
He reminded Malden residents to always call emergency 911 to report a fire even if there is a firehouse nearby.
Two previous fires include the Feb. 14 blaze on Perkins Avenue that killed two people. A lack of smoke detectors was cited as possibly contributing to the fatalities.
On Dec. 5, a five-alarm fire gutted a commercial block including The Edge Liquors at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Medford Street. Employees were in the store at the time but fled when they were unable to extinguish the fire. The workers were not injured but two Malden firefighters sustained minor injuries.