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Homeless encampment on Cambridge side of BU Bridge erupts in flames; propane tanks explode

By adamg on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 1:36pm
Smoke coming up from below the bridge before it was shut

Smoke coming up from below the bridge before it was shut. Photo by Danny.

The Cambridge Fire Department reports firefighters responded to a homeless encampment underneath the BU Bridge for a fire that sent thick black smoke into the air - and forcing firefighters to back away after multiple propane tanks exploded.

The search for residents was negative. Propane tanks have been compromised.

In addition to firefighters on trucks, the department's fire boat also responded on the Charles to pump water onto the flames.

The bridge was shut.

Smoke rises above Cambridge and the Charles River from fire at BU Bridge. Photo by Jack Staid:

Smoke rises above Cambridge and the Charles
Neighborhoods: 
Cambridge
Topics: 
Fire
Free tagging: 
BU Bridge
Homelessness
Charles River


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Comments

By Jefferson Alunsic on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 1:57pm.

After it was dismantled due to stolen bike activities last time. It is right next to major infrastructure of regional importance (BU Bridge and MWRA Cottage Farm sewer pump station). The stolen bike activities have been ongoing (see Reddit) and the fire problem is predictable. This same blog reported on a fire started by a homeless person on the Longfellow Bridge under the MGH Red Line station a few months ago. Encampments absolutely should not be allowed next to our critical infrastructure and when residents are stealing from our neighbors.

By Polybius on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 2:21pm.

Last I checked, only people who commit crimes should be punished for them, but if you think you should be evicted onto the street because your roommate is a shoplifter or something, ok dude

By Bob Leponge on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 6:29pm.

I am not allowed to operate a nuclear waste reprocessing facility in my residential neighborhood. I am not allowed to drive my car onto the runways at Logan Airport. I am not allowed to set up an encampment and build fires near a vulnerable bridge.

None of these are collective punishment in any way.

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 9:58pm.

Camping in the Charles River Reservation is illegal. So is using a propane grill. And now we have clear evidence that both of these laws are a good idea.

By ChrisF on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 10:23pm.

That reasoning is a fallacy and doesn't actually addressed the comment.

By Jefferson Alunsic on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 2:23pm.

I forgot to lead with the absolute most important message...I hope all of the residents, first responders, and passersby are all okay. This is very sad, and we can do better as a community.

By baustin on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:13pm.

Probably shouldn't complain without offering a better idea.

By Municipality on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:13pm.

So... erect some polebarns with toilets and bolted picnic tables on concrete slabs away from critical infrastucture with clear long distance sightlines and watch no unhoused show up.

People want shelter and a teeny bit of privacy and will find it often next to critical infrastructure.

I'm not sure how this unhoused group would harm the pumping station.

Bicycle theft is too low-level of a crime and just fills evidence rooms and takes time and money from other police activity until the annual bike auction.

I bet a $2000 automobile and a $2000 bicycle would also be larcenies treated differently by police.

By cybah on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 5:49pm.

So... erect some polebarns with toilets and bolted picnic tables on concrete slabs away from critical infrastucture with clear long distance sightlines and watch no unhoused show up.

We really just need to build these out in droves.. and yes with toilets, picnic tables, on concrete slabs (to prevent mud)

IMAGE(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53244609520_530c9355bf.jpg)

But it wont happen cuz NIMBY, y'all.

By DCA-BOS on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 7:33pm.

Just as long as they’re in one of the W towns. Why should the city have to put us with this crap?

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 7:35pm.

Like in Jamica Plain?
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2022-09-13/for-people-leaving-mass-and-c...

By cybah on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 10:54am.

Right but way more need to be build.

To channel the Thompson Twins..

♪ If I was king for just one day... ♪

I would put them in every g-d park in metro boston. Give people a place to go. Rather seem people here than sleep on the parks benches.

Sure it would attract people to congregate there, but they already do in campsites under bridges and what not. At least here, the places are heated and we will know where they are so they can be monitored by PD and Social Workers. Rather than far away and under some bridge or whatever.

Its not an attractive idea but we gotta do something more than what we are doing now. The land is there, utilities are nearby, and they are patrolled.

By Bob Leponge on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 8:40pm.

Why would you sacrifice parks for housing when there are plenty of undeveloped lots, underused parking lots, and other real estate that could be used.

By cybah on Tue, 10/10/2023 - 7:50am.

NIMBY Bob, you're sounding like a NIMBY.

I said parks because the homeless already congregate there, so lets just give'em the shelter they want right where they are.

Also its land the state owns already. Parking lots, empty lots etc.. others own those. The process to get access to those plots of land would take months or even years. And then of course... NIMBY will get a say.

Parks is something the state could do tomorrow with little approval from the general public.

We could do this tomorrow if we wanted to.

And remember, Parks are for everyone. Not just those who are bird watching, playing sports, doing a stroll... everyone, including the homeless. So why not?

By lbb on Tue, 10/10/2023 - 10:43am.

And remember, Parks are for everyone

Not if they're taken over for housing.

By cybah on Tue, 10/10/2023 - 1:51pm.

No I didn't.

read.

You really just like to argue with people ibb? Must be your past time.

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 9:05pm.

Deliver the first 200 to Buzzell Field in Arlington.

By Polybius on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 2:03pm.

And I fully expect the usual suspects to use the suffering of society's most vulnerable to argue that Jim Crow vagrancy laws didn't go far enough.

That said, this is yet another example of why fireboats are a necessary part of coastal/riverine firefighting. For a more dramatic example, see the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

By CopleyScott17 on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:07pm.

Not that they are even enforced, but are you saying anti-vagrancy laws in Cambridge and Boston targeted formerly enslaved people?

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 10:19pm.

Addiction doesn't discriminate. If you are addicted to crack or heroin you're already a slave.

By John Costello on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:13pm.

How about you just pour water from the top of the bridge?

FFS. Fireboats?

By Municipality on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:19pm.

I like the idea of a small pumper boat in the basin using the Chuck's waters for fire suppression and 4th of July celebation and crowd control on the Fiedler Footbridge, etc.

No more Green Day riots!

Maybe a DCR Volunteer Fire Department that the Firefighers' Union can either snuff and extinguish completely OR pull into their union.

By Polybius on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 3:30pm.

Sometimes, in places where there is water, there are places that are hard for fire engines to get to because fire engines use wheels, but wheels don't work well on water. In addition, water may not always be conveniently available in sufficient quantities and pressure. That's why we use boats, which float on water and allow for firefighters to access difficult terrain and respond to fires on boats.

By John Costello on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 6:19pm.

Please let me know on what navigable parts of the Charles River east of Watertown where you can't get a hose? You have already made some dumb statements, please relate to me where you can't drag a hose 200 feet from the hydrants on the roadways which run along the river.

Nearly all of the buildings along the river have sprinklers by the way.

There are already fire boats in the harbor.

Eejit.

By Lee on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 9:06pm.

John Boy now styles himself a fire chief and world’s biggest expert on firefighting.

Is there anything he doesn’t know?

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 4:42pm.

Wait for it. An unlimited supply of water.

Do you think the boat which is floating on water, carries water in specifically for the fire.

By jmeltzer on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 8:28am.

It's just ordinary water. What good would that do?

/ snark

By lbb on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 7:27pm.

You need to get out more. They've been around for centuries, and they're still around because they work.

By Ben_Quahog on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 8:11pm.

Fireboats can use water from the river to put out the fire. Firetrucks need a water source, usually a hydrant. Maybe I'm wrong, but are there hydrants on the top of the BU bridge? Usually that's only required on larger bridges.

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 4:14pm.

If you really think there are any laws being enforced to contribute to the "suffering" of "society's most vulnerable" you should step down from your ivory tower and pay a visit to the North Station area where I work. You really should.

By anon on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 6:16pm.

Shout out Amen to you! As I work there too and it truly has become another mini MassCass. Shame on government and judicial system and Boston's high wealth movers and shakers.

By Polybius on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 8:21pm.

But I actually do go and speak with those people, and on cold nights, will distribute instant heating packs. I have heard in person from these people what sort of circumstances they are under. Furthermore, I know multiple social workers who work with these populations, and have between them decades of experience.

If that's what I can do from the isolation of my "Ivory Tower", what have you done for your fellow humans lately?

By ChrisF on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 10:27pm.

North Station area is a mess. I saw some "lady" piercing some kid's ear with a sewing needle and tossing it into the corner by the door.

By berkleealum on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 8:20am.

“you’re just on the internet talking about it; i actually have to see these people!”

huh?

By Chris77 on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 7:26pm.

https://bostonagentmagazine.com/2023/10/06/boston-one-of-the-worlds-best...

By CopleyScott17 on Sun, 10/08/2023 - 9:24pm.

n/t

By Don't Panic on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 2:16am.

Agent Publishing is out of Chicago. What do they know from "BeanTown" in "Chi-Raq"? They're into marketing.

By jmeltzer on Mon, 10/09/2023 - 8:30am.

"It's a great place to live, because it's an even greater place to sell and rent real estate!"