Dorchester Fire Made Worse By Extreme Hoarding Inside Apartment

DORCHESTER (CBS) - Extreme hoarding was a major issue for Boston firefighters at a burning home in Dorchester overnight.

They were called to the triple decker on Romsey Street just before 4 a.m. and found flames shooting out of the third floor.

Chief of Operations Andre Stallworth said only one person lived in the building and she was able to get out safely.

Hoarding on all three floors made fighting the fire a bigger challenge.

"After we did the primary searches and the aggressive attack, we had to back everybody out because the third floor was heavily involved and go defensive at that point," Stallworth said.

"Because it had so much material in there, we always have to think about collapse or over flooding the building because now all that stock and all that material, newspapers, clothing, it holds water."

There's no word yet what caused the fire. Damage is estimated to be around $500,000, according to Stallworth. No firefighters were injured. There was no damage to the buildings next door, though neighbors said they were afraid of the fire spreading.

"It was scary, honestly, because we thought it was gonna spread for a second. It really got scary at one point," one neighbor said. "I heard the trucks coming in but I just heard the crackling and saw this big orange light coming through my window because I had my window open."

This was the second house fire in Dorchester in just a matter of hours. Earlier, two firefighters were hurt in a fire on Stonehurst Street around 8 p.m. Thursday. The cause of that fire is also under investigation.

"Tonight was a tough night for these companies, too many fires, they're exhausted," Stallworth said.