CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - A fire that tore through a multi-family home in Cambridge, leaving an elderly woman dead and several residents displaced, does not appear to be suspicious, officials announced Wednesday.
Firefighters responding to a reported fire on Webster Avenue around 7:30 a.m. found heavy smoke and flames coming from the second and third floors.
Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze and confined it to the triple-decker house.
An 88-year-old woman, who had a physical disability, died in the fire, according to Cambridge Fire Chief Gerard E. Mahoney, State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey, Acting Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow, and Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan. Her name has not been released.
“On behalf of the Cambridge Fire Department, I want to express our deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one,” said Mahoney. “This was a tragedy for them and the community.”
Residents from all three units of the building were displaced as the structure sustained significant interior and exterior damage from the fire.
Investigators believe the fire began in a second-floor kitchen and that there is no evidence that the fire was intentionally set, officials said.
The exact cause remains under investigation.
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