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Homes on fire in 10-alarm blaze in Cambridge
By adamg on Sat, 12/03/2016 - 3:06pm
A fire reported around 2:50 p.m. in a house at Berkshire and Vandine streets quickly spread to several buildings and went to ten alarms by 3:58 p.m., bringing firefighters from across greater Boston. One building has collapsed. St. Patrick's Place, a former church turned residences, is on fire.
Eight buildings caught fire. At 5:45, two still had heavy flames. Up to 100 people may have been displaced.
The fire at 3 p.m., not long after it erupted (Photo by Jay):
Michael Workman, who lives on Berkshire Street, reports he was sitting in his living room when he saw flames and smoke pouring out of a house undergoing extensive renovations across the street.
The Red Cross has set up a desk at the Frisoli Youth Center on Willow Street for displaced residents. The city has set up a shelter for displaced residents with no place to go at the War Memorial Recreation Center, 1640 Cambridge St. Donations can be made online or sent to:
Mayors Fire Relief Fund
Cambridge City Hall
795 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
WHDH reports two police officers and one firefighter were injured.
Fire engulfed this house in a matter of minutes. #Cambridge #cambridgefire pic.twitter.com/85L8LFcqNh
— Rodrigo Garcia (@neuro_tic) December 4, 2016
Power was cut in a wide area around the fire to protect firefighters battling the blaze. John Garabo reports the fire also cut Comcast service in the area and that the company is looking at restoration of service by 2 a.m.
Among the departments that sent firefighters to the fire: Somerville, Watertown, Belmont, Brookline, Waltham, Boston, Arlington, Chelsea, Medford, Newton, Malden, Lexington, Saugus, Logan Airport, Everett, Revere, Winchester, Lynn, Melrose, Wakefield, Quincy and Westford. Other fire companies from surrounding communities went to empty Cambridge firehouses to keep the rest of the city protected.
The smoke was visible from Hull, and could be smelled in Fort Point in Boston. TrueNE_79 reports that around 3:30 p.m., "there were big, I mean the size of a book, chunks of ash in the Public Garden."
Smoke continues to blanket neighborhood from fire across the street from my house. pic.twitter.com/yzha4NR6kp
— Michael Workman (@MichaelWorkman) December 3, 2016
A seemingly unconscious police officer evacuated from near the #cambridge #fire. pic.twitter.com/Njbn4tFBNZ
— Matt Karolian (@mkarolian) December 4, 2016
Cambridge fire right after it started pic.twitter.com/gM9RLa2RW0
— Brett Boston (@carl_cambridge) December 3, 2016
@universalhub looks like something is on fire in Cambridge. Any idea what? pic.twitter.com/vvd9K1RieZ
— Matt Simmons (@standaloneSA) December 3, 2016
MASSIVE FIRE in Cambridge. View from Inman Sq @universalhub pic.twitter.com/K4pmtRTQvF
— Gustavo Quiroga (@GooseQ) December 3, 2016
.@universalhub not going to venture any closer pic.twitter.com/Ei2pD9m4Dw
— Daniel Rothenberg (@drothenberg0121) December 3, 2016
@justifyles @universalhub Looks very close to Cambridge PD HQ. pic.twitter.com/6rZz2fIL0p
— David Cole (@MisterInvisible) December 3, 2016
@universalhub a couple blocks away. #Cambridge #CambridgeMA pic.twitter.com/TJF4lTNSvt
— Joe Murphy (@JoeyJoeJoe) December 3, 2016
@universalhub Cambridge fire pic.twitter.com/TJPhvj8u9w
— John Gage (@foryourinfo1x) December 3, 2016
Seeing fire/smoke in Boston all the way from Hull... anyone know what's going on? #boston pic.twitter.com/gdhjo2s7cb
— Leslie/Stress Baking (@lesliehaasch) December 3, 2016
@universalhub pic.twitter.com/ML0jJrEM73
— Jglen (@JonGlendinning) December 3, 2016
@universalhub I'm working a street over on Hampshire pic.twitter.com/zDdj5wSjJU
— EST. 1985 (@TheGiddinge) December 3, 2016
A 9-alarm fire in Cambridge@universalhub pic.twitter.com/wNxvbHqBVW
— Derek Kouyoumjian (@DerekImage) December 3, 2016
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Comments
does anybody know if the movie theater is OK?
because it's a true cultural resource
does anybody know if the people are OK?
because a movie theater can be rebuilt...
I have not heard reports of
I have not heard reports of injuries.
One firefighter injured
Around 5 p.m. Don't know extent of his injuries, but paramedics were requested.
2 police officers, 1 firefighter
WHDH reports.
Cultural Resource?
Kendall Square Theatre? Really? Sure they will show you a movie that might not make it up to the Hollywood Hits in Danvers, and yes the popcorn is real, but they also don't clean the bathrooms correctly and they used to turn down the wattage to the bulbs to the projectors to save money. The last movie I saw there was nearly in black and white because of the fade.
Here's the thing about cultural resources, if it shows up on Amazon Prime or Netflix as well as Kendall Square, it is a place to view movies, not a real cultural resource say.
The BPL, The Athenaeum, The Paradise, The wisdom of the person who has lived on the street where this fire is for 60 years, those things are cultural resources.
Let's hope CFD and the residents are ok here.
Agreed
I have never understood the reverence some hold for the KST, especially when there are much better "independent' movie house in the area. The last time I paid to see a movie there the aspect ratio was awful-even George Clooney looks bad if the top of his head is cut off. Multiplexes are berated by cinephiles for exactly these kinds of poor presentations, but the Kendall is given a pass by many of the same people.
Thank you
That is also several blocks from One Kendall Square and from the movie theater, closer to Donnelly Field.
What is most worrisome is that it is an area of older wooden row houses and triple deckers packed cheek-by-jowl on small lots, some still covered in tar paper, most built in the mid-19th century. Add dry wind and it is a nightmare. I could see the smoke from the Home Depot in Somerville.
Yes!
This is what worries me about living in a neighborhood with 100+ year old stick frame houses so close together. It spreads so fast...
im the upcoming mark wahlberg movie about this
im the upcoming mark wahlberg movie about this
In the first scene
You're the guy who overcooks the lasagna ... or is it flings the ciggie off the back porch?
no
im the one that slaps his mouthy neighbor for running her mouth
Okay
And the lit ciggie she was sucking on ... got it.
Vulture
When you're feeling sympathetic for the people involved, but still see an opportunity before the fire is even contained!
https://mobile.twitter.com/LeasingBoston/status/805162350630359040
Wow
One of the few times the phrase "delete your account" seems appropriate.
A more helpful response?
Maybe he did.....
His page suddenly "does not exist".....
"The profile you're trying to
"The profile you're trying to view has been suspended. Why not try a search to find something else?"
Whoopsie daisy!
Saw that too
Pretty much the worst tweet ever. Speaks volumes of the greed some people have. Totally agree adam
lmao
i respect the balls it takes to blatantly take advantage of a massive fire, tbh
There's now somebody even worse ...
Some guy reposting photos from the fire and blaming Muslims. Twitter now lets you report tweets as "abusive or harmful" - and if you do it for one tweet, it helpfully bundles the rest for a group report. Now to see if it works ...
What ...
... in the actual Fuck?
Is that...
...is that guy blaming snow on Muslims?
Exactly
Either he was joking, or he really believes Muslims can control the weather.
And if Muslims can control the weather, I may consider conversion. Sometimes you want it dry and sometimes you want rain.
Twitter trolls
The trolls are out in force on Twitter about this fire. I fought back against one who was harassing another person tweeting about running from his house, and fearing his car was melted. Why someone felt it was appropriate to tweet threats with Pepe the frog memes at someone whose house just burned down is beyond me. But we can all fight these idiots online. A hateful idiot online is a hateful idiot in real life too. Support the people who need support, fight back against the hate. If we * all * begin doing this online, Twitter will have to react (and not just pretend that the solution is blocking me from seeing the troll's tweets - which is what they do when you report offensive tweets, as far as I can tell). And beyond that, fighting back online is a piece of the bigger solution online & off.
I'd love to see these folks'
I'd love to see these folks' real identities revealed on the news.
Twitter apparently doesn't see this as harmful
Because I reported it too...
Fire
Sad but not surprising. My building had a fire a few years ago (was mostly confined to the back porches), and the vultures that came out of the woodwork when there's a fire. I had 3 boardup/clean up service, and 3 contractors all come out of the woodwork within an 1/2 an hour of me getting there (when the fire started). Apparently they all listen to the scanner and drive around to fires.. scum.
Update
He's deleted the tweet.
It's gone now. What was it?
Realtor
A Cambridge realtor inviting anyone displaced by the fire to contact him regarding rental options. After receiving many negative responses, he posted that he was just trying to help and (paraphrasing) leave it to trolls to turn his outreach into something negative.
Original Tweet
The original tweet was retweeted, I just found it again by typing "leasingboston" into the search box on Twitter's home page.
Up to Ten Alarms now
NECN has a live feed: http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/5-Alarm-Fire-in-Cambridge-404487965...
Westford?
That's 45 minutes away. Wow.
I read some off the mutual
I read some off the mutual aid agreement in the Marathon post-mortem. They start to draw on resources further out so there aren't gaps in the immediate area for response to other incidents. Something like 30 departments participate, iirc.
After the marathon
I remember seeing motorcycle cops on the Common from Tyngsboro and Dracut and places like that.
Holy cats
I didn't know fires went up to 10 alarms. I hope everyone's ok.
WCVB had already reported people OK when I inquired...
about the movie theater
wow, there are some nasty people on this site
get a life, and take up your complaints with the theater
seriously...
nasty people
You mean, the ones who worry about businesses with modern amenities and fire suppression systems that are blocks away from the given address when viewed on a map when there is a firestorm eating a neighborhood?
Okay.
Expressing concern
about one thing does not imply a lack of concern about other things. There is nothing nasty or untoward about casting your empathy-net wide. I live a few blocks from the fire, and I am not offended by his concern for the theatre. And no, the neighborhood is not in flames. Noisy, though.
Perhaps
No such concern was expressed, however.
Even that apartment tweet acknowledged the devastation to many people's homes - albeit in a sleazy way.
lol ok lets play by your rules.
whenever you mention a cellphone, tablet, or pretty much any other piece of consumer electronics i hope you prostrate and pray for the slave labor and near slave labor conditions used in the processes to gather the precious metals and manufacture the devices.
i mean, obviously, we don't know that you care about it unless you mention it specifically.
Yeah the Muslim hating troll showed concern
For USA!!!
This concerned Kendall guy is a monster!
Actually I didn't even take offense before the clarification.
Concern isn't a zero sum game. I never assumed anything beyond what was posted. Not a mind reader.
On a more important note I'm glad there appears to have been only minor injuries.
Thoughts are with the displaced. Very sad.
Pro-tip: You know you're over-reacting when...
Note to those giving grief to Fenwickian (and their up-thumbers):
You know you're over-reacting to an innocent comment when scumquistador's response is more reasonable than yours.
Just awful. Does anyone know
Just awful. Does anyone know if the fire is under control? Hoping everyone is safe and the injured recover quickly.
"Several cars were also engulfed by the flames."
Per WCVB, also noting that wind gusts have been an issue for firefighters all afternoon/evening, and partly account for how far the smoke carried.