WESTBOROUGH — Families have begun moving back into Building 293 at Arrive on Turnpike Road, nearly five days after a fire left the building temporarily uninhabitable.
On Monday, Dec. 9, firefighters from several communities knocked down a fire on the seventh floor. However, there was water damage that went all the way to the basement; damage has been estimated at $2 million.
More than 100 families were displaced. Over the next few days, they received assistance from the town, including gift cards from Westborough Public Schools, the Red Cross and other agencies.
Volunteers from Gurudwara Sahib Westborough NESSC, a Sikh temple on Flanders Road, began providing hot meals for families starting that Monday night.
Geentanjali Virmani, a resident of Shrewsbury and member of the temple, coordinated the meal prep and delivery with Ashish Kumar, whose family was among those affected by the fire. Other families from Arrive helped deliver the meals.
“Various families from MetroWest volunteered to come help cook these meals in large quantities each day,” said Virmani.
The volunteers prepped and delivered 62 dinners on Monday; and 50 lunches and 50 dinners on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday, Dec. 13, Arrive management began allowing families to return to their apartments.
