A raging fire destroyed a large 4-family house Friday afternoon in Quincy, Massachusetts.
The fire broke out in the Houghs Neck section of the city. A resident of the building told neighbors he was working on some type of battery for a motorcycle when the battery exploded.
"He just said that he was changing the battery and it blew up on him and it started a big fire," said neighbor Patti Nichol. "That's what he said."
The man, his wife and his 3-year-old son escaped.
"I had them come to my house," said Nichol.
The residents in the other apartments made it out safely, as well.
It was not an easy fire to fight — out on a peninsula with no ladder truck and with the cold and windy weather.
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"It's devastating. You don't want to see anything like this around Thanksgiving and near Christmas," said neighbor Vaughn Driscoll. "You don't want to somebody go through something like that."
The man was taken to the hospital. His hands were badly burned, apparently from the battery acid.
"He was very frazzled," said Nichol. "He was just grateful we were here to take care of the little boy."
The building is a total loss.
About nine people lived in the four apartments.
Firefighters have not released the official cause of the fire.
