Somerville, Massachusetts – Firefighters were dispatched to a multi-family home in Somerville on Saturday afternoon, where they battled a raging blaze that caused significant damage to the upper floors of the property and nearby buildings. According to fire officials, the fire broke out around 3:30 p.m. on the second floor rear porch of the house on Walker Street before spreading up to the third floor.
Fire Chief Charles Breen said no injuries were reported, and all occupants of the home were able to evacuate safely. Although there were reports of a cat inside the building, the chief believes the feline is unharmed.
“We’re lucky with the time of the day it started, and nobody was asleep in the house and whatnot,” Breen said. “Had this been at night, we could have had serious problems, but fortunately, at the time it happened, everybody was able to get out.”
The home suffered heavy fire damage on the upper floors and heavy water damage on the lower floor. The fire chief stated that two other nearby buildings also sustained damage.
“In Somerville, we’re a very dense city, we had not only this house, but we also had damage to the house next door, and the garage in the rear was on fire as well, so companies arriving had their hands full trying to get this fire knocked down,” he said. “They did a great job. The guys were very aggressive, got ahead of it, and we were able to keep most of the damage to this one house.”
The chief said the fire was challenging because it required a lot of manpower, given that the flames had spread to the third floor and attic space. The firefighting effort was labor-intensive, and it took crews a good hour to get the fire under control.
At the time of this report, the cause of the fire remains unknown. Investigations are ongoing, and updates will be provided as they become available.
