BOSTON (WHDH) - The Boston Fire Department battled a fire on the roof of a Roxbury apartment building on Northampton Street Tuesday night.
It was around midnight when flames could be seen shooting off from the building’s roof in a dense neighborhood block near Boston Medical Center.
“It escalated quickly, I think,” said Josh Hernandez, who was able to grab his cat and flee from the fire with his fellow residents.
Officials say rooftop wood decking fed the flames, with many residents below unaware of how the big the fire was until they were outside.
“You turned around and literally the roof was on fire,” said Sharon Tulchinsky. “It’s just kind of surreal because you’re like ‘Oh my God, that’s my building, that’s my life, that’s, you know, where I live. It’s an investment that is literally, the top of the building, is on fire.”
Three Boston police officers who ran in knocking on doors are being credited with helping fully evacuate the fast-spreading fire.
Crews ran hoses up their ladders to get water onto the flames.
In total, fifty people were forced from their homes.
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