In Dorchester, 6-alarm blaze sends 1 to hospital

Neighbors helped residents to escape a raging fire in Dorchester Saturday that tore through a pair of multifamily homes, sent one person to the hospital, and displaced 29 residents, according to Mayor Michelle Wu and city fire officials.

“The neighbors really saved lives here, the folks who live in the building and made sure everyone they could yell to got out,” Wu said, speaking to reporters outside the homes on Ellington Street.

The Boston Fire Department posted a video on social media shortly after 4 p.m. showing the back porches on a three-decker at 21 Ellington St. consumed by flames and said the fire had extended to a neighboring home at 19 Ellington St.

Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke struck a sixth alarm, drawing scores of firefighters to the neighborhood for support as they worked to keep the blaze from spreading to other homes on the tightly-packed residential street.

“We fight these fires aggressively [and] internally to knock them down because once they get through the building beside them, we could lose the whole street,” Burke told reporters at the scene, according to audio provided by Wu’s office.

A Boston EMS spokesperson said one person was “transported by advanced life support to an area hospital.” No further information was released.

Burke said there were 15 people in one of the buildings and 14 people in the other. The MBTA dispatched a bus for the displaced residents to stay warm, as temperatures were in the 30s. A Salvation Army spokesperson said the residents were provided with food and water on the bus. The American Red Cross is also assisting them, Burke said.

At the scene, Wu said she was grateful to the firefighters.

“The fact that we have such cold weather, the buildings in such close proximity to each other and yet everyone got out safe, it’s a miracle,” she said.

Wu added: “This is really what Boston is all about, people taking care of each other and stepping in to do whatever is needed. And especially during the holiday weekend, we know that this is going to be a stressful situation for some time to come, and we’ll do whatever we can to support these families.”

The fire is under investigation and the cause was not immediately clear Saturday night, Burke said.

A second alarm was struck just as firefighters arrived and saw the exposed flames in the rear of 21 Ellington St., Burke said. A third, fourth, fifth, and sixth alarm quickly followed.

“The fire went to each building, it got into the ceiling and really took off in both buildings,” he said. “It was a chaotic scene for a long time. The heavy fire was difficult to knock down.”

Firefighters cycled into and out of both buildings as additional companies responded.

“They really took a beating from the heat and the smoke in there,” he said.

Images shared by the fire department showed heavy black smoke pouring from the two three-story buildings as firefighters doused the structures with water.

In a post around 4:30 p.m., the fire department said the heavy fire had been knocked down and companies were continuing to work. Shortly after 6 p.m., the department said firefighters were beginning to clear “thousands of feet” of hose lines and that crews would remain through the night to monitor hot spots.

District 4 City Councilor Brian Worrell said the city will work to assist the displaced families.

“We’re gonna try to meet every need that the families have, whether it’s housing, food, and just wrapping our arms around his family, especially around the holidays,” he said.