AN INFERNO IN ASHMONT
Destroys newly built apartments
Firefighters were expected to keep battling a multi-alarm Dorchester blaze in an apartment block under construction through the night, watching for signs of collapse.
“Given the size and scope of this building, it’s nothing but a tinderbox,” Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn said of the wood-frame building. “If this had started below and traveled the length of the building we’d have real problems. It’s all legal. It’s all in the state building code. It’s all accepted practice. Buildings are built across the city just like this.”
Finn said some larger mixeduse building are made of steel for the first five or six stories, whereas this building used wood, making it more dangerous in the event of a fire.
Residents near the burning six-story Treadmark building on Dorchester Avenue were being urged to stay inside as smoke billowed through the neighborhood. The nearby Ashmont T Station was shut down during the evening commute.
“Expect this section of Dot Ave from Ashmont St. to Washington St. closed entire night. Smoke thick. Please stay inside,” the fire department tweeted.
The building, nearing completion with units already under agreement, had 83 condo and rental units, with condos listed for $339,000 to $539,000.
“It’s burning extensively through void spaces,” Boston fire spokesman Steve MacDonald said yesterday afternoon. “It’s a very dangerous building.”
The fire was first reported at 2:37 p.m. Firefighters were soon ordered out of the building and off the roof as operations went into a “defensive position,” MacDonald said.
“This fire has taken on a life of its own, as you can see,” MacDonald said, adding the structure had the “potential” to collapse.
Finn said crews would be there all night to battle the blaze.
Two workers at the scene said a generator on the roof caught fire as systems used to power emergency exit signs and lighting were being tested.
“There was already appliances and everything in those units,” said one laborer. “They were done.”
Finn was unable to confirm a cause of the fire. He said the building was properly permitted and was due to be inspected before the July 15 move-in date, with a fire alarm inspection due today.
Developer Jim Keefe of Trinity Financial said in a statement, “We care deeply about the Ashmont neighborhood and are heartbroken. The most important thing is that no one was seriously hurt. .... The Boston Fire Department is working tirelessly and we are so grateful for their efforts. We are fully committed to making sure this project gets rebuilt as quickly as possible.”