Chief: Two Firefighters Injured Battling ‘Very Stubborn’ Blaze

Two Brookline firefighters were taken to the hospital this morning after battling a on Wellington Terrace for more than four hours.

Chief Peter Skerry said the two firefighters complained of back and shoulder pain after helping to put out a fire that gutted a 19th century home and tied up traffic through Whiskey Point for most of the morning. Cypress and Walnut streets were still closed to most traffic as of 11 this morning.

Skerry said firefighters were called to 5 Wellington Terrace around 5:15 a.m. and found heavy fire in the basement and first floor. Crews were able to knock down flames on the two lower floors, but Skerry said the fire had already gotten into the walls and climbed to the top of the 3.5-story home.

“Once it gets in the walls, it often time goes straight through the roof, as it did in this case,” the chief said.

The blaze eventually reached three alarms and drew fire crews from Boston, Cambridge and Newton. Cypress Street and Walnut Streets were blocked off through the morning commute as four ladder trucks poured water onto the fire from Cypress Street and another two attacked it from Wellington Terrace.

Firefighters were still fighting what Skerry called a “very stubborn fire” at 8 a.m. as smoke poured from the roof and flames licked the eaves. Skerry said there was fire damaged throughout the home, but stopped short of calling it a total loss.

Skerry said the home was being renovated and had been unoccupied for at least a month. He said fire investigators plan to interview a work crew that had been in the building over the weekend.

According to the Brookline Accessor’s Database, the home at 5 Wellington Terrace was built in 1890 and last valued at $917,800.