Residents rescued from Cambridge fire
Several people had to be rescued and 30 were displaced by a 4-alarm kitchen fire Tuesday night in a Cambridge building that has no sprinkler system, fire officials said.
The blaze was first reported at 11:48 p.m. on the third floor of Continental Gardens, a 9-story, brick condominium building at 14 Concord Ave., Fire Chief Gerard Mahoney said.
Flames were shooting out of a third-story balcony when firefighters arrived.
“The occupant of that condo woke up and left right away, which is what we want people to do,” Mahoney said. “We don’t want people to stay and try to fight a fire.”
The blaze spread to the condominium above and to an adjacent one before the approximately 70 firefighters from Cambridge and surrounding communities were able to bring it under control within about an hour and 15 minutes, he said.
All 48 units had to be evacuated because of an estimated “several million dollars” in fire, smoke and water damage, and because the electricity in the building had to be turned off, Mahoney said.
Several people were rescued from the building, which had a functioning alarm system but was not required to have a sprinkler system when it was built in 1970, he said.
“If that building had a sprinkler system, there would have been a far different outcome,” Mahoney said. “These things have proven their worth over and over again.”
Two cats died, and two firefighters suffered minor injuries, he said. One of them and two residents were taken to a local hospital, Mahoney said, and 30 people were displaced by the blaze.
The fire remains under investigation, he said, but it may have been caused by a faulty refrigerator compressor.
“My people did a phenomenal job under the circumstances,” Mahoney said. “One of the issues in a building like this is it’s tough to extend a hose line through the building. We also ran a hose line on the ladders, but the first line of attack is usually through the building.”