Stubborn blaze burns for several hours, destroys businesses in Dorchester

BOSTON (WHDH) - Firefighters battled a four-alarm blaze that broke out Tuesday morning and destroyed two businesses in Boston’s Codman Square.

The fire started just after 9 a.m. at Codman Square Market on Washington Street in the city’s Dorchester section.

Video from Sky7 showed heavy smoke and flames billowing from the front of the building when crews arrived at the scene.

Officials say they were concerned that the fire was going spread to a billboard that sits on the building’s rooftop and cause a collapse.

After five hours, the fire was finally knocked down, but the market’s roof collapsed.

Officials say the fire also destroyed a neighboring liquor store. They say it broke out in the back of the market and quickly spread.

“It started from the back and it pushed up to the front,” one witness told 7News.

Several ladder trucks worked to extinguish the fire by utilizing water and a biodegradable foam, which seeks out the fire and works to suppress it. The entire neighborhood was left covered in the white substance.

No injuries were reported. The building was evacuated. Officials estimate about $1,000,000 in damage.

Crews have since cleared the scene. The cause of the fire is not clear.

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