Boston firefighters responded to a large blaze in the city's Dorchester neighborhood that spread to several nearby triple-deckers on a hot Labor Day.
The Boston Fire Department was on scene at 37 Holiday Street for hours, where the rear porches collapsed and fast-moving flames extended to four other buildings, prompting a call for more mutual aid.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury, the fire chief told an NBC10 Boston crew on scene.
Two of the triple deckers are not inhabitable; the three others have significant damage to the exteriors.
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When flames started tearing through one triple decker and started moving from home to home, one resident tells NBC10 Boston that she was fast asleep.
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“The dog was in the cage at the end of the bed and she started barking really crazy,” Deborah said. “And that's what woke me up.”
She quickly got up and escaped with her terrier named Chanel.
“I opened up my bedroom door, I could see flames shooting up the side of the house and my kitchen and I started hearing the windows pop,” Deborah said, adding that she's grateful Chanel woke her up just in time. "Thank God for her."
There wasn’t much wind Monday afternoon, but the flames were still able to damage five different triple deckers because the neighborhood is so tightly packed.
“I saw a bunch of smoke and as soon as I saw it I knew it was on my street and I came to look and that’s when I realized it was my house,” said Milton Teixeira, one of the displaced residents.
Several Good Samaritans tried to alert the residents as the flames spread.
“We all bum rushed the door to try to kick the doors open,” said Mac Brown, one of the neighbors who went door to door. “Then we went next door, to the next house, trying to kick open the doors, we banged and yelled, banged and yelled.”
All of the tenants did make it out safely. Now, more than 35 of them will need a new place to live for the time being. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts will help people find housing.
“We just have to take it one day at a time,” said displaced resident Ariel Foster. “Step by step, we have to put God in our head, continue to pray and keep it moving.”
Investigators haven’t figured out what started the fire. The cause remains under investigation.
