Somerville Fire Caused $2M In Damages, Displaced Six

SOMERVILLE, MA — A four-alarm fire at a vacant home on Morrison Avenue spread to the neighboring buildings Saturday, causing an estimated $2 million in damages and displacing six people, Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen said.

The home was completely engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived shortly after 12:20 p.m. Saturday. The fire had already spread to the neighboring homes, and four alarms were quickly ordered, Breen said.

Several live electrical lines burned and fell to the ground, creating a hazard for firefighters working at the scene, Breen said. Heat also damaged four vehicles and a construction trailer and melted the warning lights on the first responding fire truck.

The vacant home where the blaze originated collapsed in the fire. The neighboring homes sustained significant damage and are currently uninhabitable. The houses behind and across the street from the blaze suffered heat damage, and embers caused porch and mulch fires nearby, Breen said.

One firefighter was treated at the hospital for a burn and several others sustained minor injuries but remained on duty. Crews from Cambridge, Boston, Belmont, Chelsea, Medford, Malden and Arlington assisted at the scene.

Construction workers were on-site at the time of the fire. It is not believed to be suspicious.

"The lack of finished interior walls and ceilings in the home under renovation as well as missing windows allowed rapid fire spread throughout the structure," Breen said.