Porches Collapse During Fire That Spread Between 2 Dorchester Homes
BOSTON (CBS) – Firefighters knocked down a large fire that damaged two multi-family homes in Dorchester early Saturday morning.
The flames broke out on Nightingale Street around 7:45 a.m., badly damaging two multi-family homes.
The fire began in one building and quickly spread to the other.
The flames moved quickly collapsing back porches, everyone escaped, but one young woman says there wasn't much time.
"I ran out there with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out but the whole side of the house was on fire so I used up the whole fire extinguisher and it did nothing. And then my window exploded. I couldn't grab my phone or my cats and we just got everybody else out of the house and ran down here," said the young woman.
Two firefighters were hurt and taken to the hospital, although their injuries were said to be minor.
Crews dealt with smoke and flames, but Boston Fire Commissioner Jack Dempsey says there was another danger.
"One of the challenges was the wires came down on the metal chain link fence, so we were concerned with electrifying the fence," said Commissioner Dempsey. "That was early on in the fire, but managed to get around that."
It's been a busy 48 hours for firefighters in the neighborhood. Just Friday morning, they rushed to another bad fire in Dorchester. Now from this latest fire alone, about a dozen people are looking for a new home.
"I went to college for four years," said one young man. "So I'm pretty used to fire alarms going off in the middle of the night. But it's usually nothing. This time it was something. Two floors, second and third. And then the siding of the house over. Its a real mess, but you know, everyone's safe."
