A thick blanket of smoke billowing from a fire at an unfinished apartment building covered the Ashmont section of Dorchester as it blew across the neighborhood.
Residents were ordered to remain inside and to close their windows as the six-story, wood-framed Treadmark building burned for hours Wednesday on Dorchester Avenue near the Ashmont MBTA station.
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“Smoke was everywhere. It was kind of hard to breathe,” said John Carvalho. “It was terrible.”
Some residents used their shirts to cover their face as they returned home from work. Firefighters walked the streets to take air quality readings and told people to stay inside.
The Ashmont station was shut down and some buses were cancelled, which forced many people into the streets and into the smoke.
At the Carruth Condominiums across the street from the fire, many evacuated for the night because they were in the line of smoke. Those who remained told 7News that it was difficult to sleep Wednesday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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