Boston, Massachusetts: Dorchester Fire on Kerwin Street Displaces 11, Sends Three to Hospital

Firefighters rescued residents from a burning three-story home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood on Saturday morning, October 31, in a two-alarm fire that sent three people to hospitals and left 11 residents without a home, fire officials said.

Crews raced to 24 Kerwin Street shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday, when flames broke out in the three-story wood-frame multi-family home and a second alarm was struck to bring in extra units, Particle News reported. The incident log for Boston Fire Box 3393 records fire on all three floors of the dwelling, with a second alarm ordered on arrival.

Rescues from the rear porch

Firefighters performed multiple rescues from the building's rear porch and used ground ladders to remove residents from the upper floors, Particle News reported.

Boston EMS transported three people to area hospitals, and officials said those patients are expected to recover. No firefighter injuries were reported in the first accounts of the fire.

Eleven residents displaced

Eight adults and three children were left homeless by the blaze, and the American Red Cross was on scene offering shelter and recovery help, Particle News reported. Boston 25 News carried the same count in its Sunday morning listings: three hospitalized and 11 displaced after the fire in Dorchester.

Fire officials estimated the damage at more than $500,000. Officials opened an investigation into how the fire started, and no cause has been announced.

Kerwin Street is a residential street of multi-family homes in Dorchester, the largest neighborhood in Boston. A second alarm brings extra engines and ladder companies beyond the first units sent. In this case, the extra help was ordered on arrival, with the fire already spread through the home.

What is not known yet

The first reports do not say where in the building the fire started, who the three people taken to hospitals were, or how long the displaced families will be out of the building. They do not say whether the home had working smoke alarms. Those details sit with Boston fire investigators.

What is confirmed is this. A fire broke out shortly after 8 a.m. on Saturday at 24 Kerwin Street in Dorchester. It went to a second alarm, with fire on all three floors. Firefighters rescued residents from the rear porch and by ladder. Three people were taken to hospitals and are expected to recover. Eleven residents, eight adults and three children, were displaced, and the damage estimate is above $500,000.