Friend: Disabled victim of Webster fire, Peter Maraglia, a longtime chef in area

WEBSTER — A well-respected career chef died in a two-alarm fire Saturday night at a multifamily building overlooking Webster Lake.

Peter Maraglia, 57, was a chef who worked many years in the restaurant industry including at Legal Sea Foods in Worcester and Point Breeze in Webster, according to James “AJ” Alkire, owner of Point Breeze.

The identity of the victim has not been released by the Webster Fire Department.

Maraglia, who was disabled and had an aide, is originally from the Worcester area and has been living in Webster for about 15 years, Alkire said.

“Pete loved his animals and the Discovery Channel,” Alkire said. “He had many pets over the course of his life.”

Maraglia’s cat also perished in the fire, Alkire said.

At approximately 10 p.m., the fire department was dispatched for a reported structure fire at a multi-family structure at 1 South Point Road, with reports of at least one resident trapped inside, according to Deputy Chief Jeffrey Saad.

The first fire company that arrived conducted a primary search and located the trapped man. He was extricated and transported to a local hospital, Saad said.

The man was pronounced dead at the hospital, Saad said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire shortly after, according to Saad.

Alkire, who lives a couple of rooms down from the victim, said Maraglia was on the first floor when the fire started.

“It (the fire) started in his room. It was pretty much confined to that room. It didn’t spread out of the room,” Alkire said. “The fire department did an amazing job containing the fire in the one room. The flames did not spread due to their fast action. They were here in four minutes and got Pete out of that room within 10 minutes. They did an amazing job.”

The building is the old Point Breeze Hotel, which was built in 1893 and has three floors, Alkire said. The building is next to Point Breeze overlooking Webster Lake.

Alkire was in the Point Breeze restaurant which is a stone throw away from where the fire was. He was putting in an order for Sysco food distribution for a Monday deliver when he got a call from Fran Knapik, another resident of the building.

“So I grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran down here (to the building). I tried to enter. I first went here with a fire extinguisher and I couldn’t get in (his room) because it was too hot,” Alkire said. “Then, I tried to enter through his bedroom…And the police (who, he said, were there in a minute after the 911 call) pulled me down and saved my life."

Six people live in the multi-family home and five of them were home at the time of the fire, Saad said.

There were no other injuries or fatalities as a result of the fire, Saad said.

The remaining residents were displaced by the fire, Saad said.

The fire is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Webster Fire Department, Webster Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police Fire & Explosive Investigation Unit assigned to the State Fire Marshal's office.

Shaw-Majercik Funeral Home , 48 School St., Webster, is directing arrangements. Alkire said they will do something special and private in Maraglia’s memory.

“It seems to me it has been determined as an accidental death,” Alkire said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Friend: Disabled victim of Webster fire, Peter Maraglia, a longtime chef in area