Quantcast
(Updated) Three firefighters hurt battling Dorchester blaze – Metro US

(Updated) Three firefighters hurt battling Dorchester blaze

fire boston dorchester colonial ave boston fire department The burned Colonial Avenue building in Dorchester following an early morning fire on Sunday.
Credit: Jeremiah Robinson/Metro

Three firefighters were injured battling a four-alarm fire that raced through a Dorchester building early Sunday morning after someone apparently improperly disposed of a cigarette.

The fire at 46 Colonial Ave. broke out at about 1:40 a.m., the fire department said.

Crews arrived on scene and found flames already coming from the front of each floor of the triple decker.

While all of the residents were able to make it out and escape harm, three firefighters suffered injuries while trying to put out the fire. One suffered a shoulder injury, another suffered an ankle injury and a third suffered a knee injury.

Ten adults and three children were forced out into the cold because of the fire. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts said the agency was assisting six families, including some from a neighboring home that was damaged because of its proximity to the blaze.

The MBTA provided a bus for the families to wait inside of and escape the cold while the Red Cross made its way to the scene, the fire department said.

Fire officials cited working smoke detectors as a reason why all of the residents made it out of building OK.

Damage to 46 Colonial Ave. was estimated at about $350,000. Fire officials estimated 42 Colonial Ave. suffered $50,000 in damage because of its close proximity.

Boston fire officials said Sunday afternoon that careless disposal of a cigarette is to blame for the fire. The department also said that the fire appeared to have started on the first floor porch and traveled up to the second and third floor porches, engulfing each of those structures.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.