MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - Three people are displaced and one person was taken to the hospital following a multi-alarm blaze that broke out in a duplex in Medford on Sunday.
The fire broke out just before 5 p.m. and quickly intensified, officials say. Firefighters from multiple communities could be seen working on the building at Prescott and Allston streets as heavy flames and a large plume of black smoke shot up into the air.
Crews worked hard to contain the flames, but still couldn’t prevent a neighboring house from getting singed
Chief John Freedman says Sunday’s wet weather made the job harder by creating an inversion effect.
“It made it very hard, because what happens is the smoke instead of going up and out, it just hung down at the street level,” Freedman said. “It was very hard to see what was going on.”
Firefighters not only attacked the fire with hoses, but also with saws and axes, cutting into the roof.
No firefighters were hurt, but one resident was taken to the hospital.
The duplex’s three residents are displaced and being assisted by the American Red Cross.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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