Firefighters battled a large blaze in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood that left 12 adults and nine children unable to return home Tuesday afternoon.
The fire was reported shortly before 1 p.m. in a home on Cushing Avenue. Flames burst through the roof of the building.
"Seeing their faces and trying to figure out what's going to come next. Starting over is not easy," said Geisa Silva, whose mother lives in the building. "It's sad to see everything destroyed. A lot of memories."
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Heavy smoke made the fire difficult for crews to extinguish.
"There were difficult conditions to get in the building," said Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke. "There were holes in the floor, so we couldn't keep them in that long — once the thing got going, we had to pull the firefighters out, so the fire was fought from the outside."
Shortly before 2 p.m., Boston fire tweeted out an update saying that the fire was continuing to travel up through the building. Heavy flames could be seen shooting from multiple second-story windows. Minutes later, the fire department said the blaze had burned through the roof.
Around 2:30 p.m., the fire department said all firefighters had been ordered out of the building. Fire crews were continuing to attack the fire from above.
The Salvation Army said its Emergency Disaster Services team also responded to the fire scene and will provide food and other assistance as needed.
More fire photos below:
