SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - A three-story building went up in flames in Somerville Wednesday evening, prompting a massive emergency response and forcing several street closures, officials said.
Fire crews from Somerville, Cambridge, Chelsea, Medford, and other surrounding communities responded to the fire at a building at the corner of Broadway and Curtis Street shortly after 5 p.m. Firefighters appeared to be mainly focused on the roof, where smoke was seen billowing from.
“We had extremely heavy smoke pushing out of the clark loft, which is the it’s a big space between the ceiling on the third floor and the roof,” said Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen. “It’s got to be probably at least this deep, and we had heavy fire conditions running the whole length of the building.”
Several streets in the area were closed at this time as dozens of firefighters fought the flames.
“We needed a lot of manpower here. We had to search all the units, there was heavy smoke condition in there,” Breen said.
Warren thames and his partner have lived in the building for 23 years, and said when it caught fire their biggest concern was finding their 13-year-old cat Naz. Chelsea firefighter Alex Lozada went back into the building, and found him hiding in a closet.
“Kind of surreal, I mean, it’s part of the job, but it definitely was surreal because it was hidden. Like I said it was a dark cat, the closet was dark, all I could really see was the eyes when I found himm” Lozada said. “It feels good to actually know that when I’m doing my job I did something right, and to be able to help, and give back.”
No word yet on any injuries, or what could have caused the fire.
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