Reports from the Kendall Square fire

Blast First describes what happened when the fire alarms first went off up on the 11th floor:

... I started gathering my stuff when frantic voice came over the intercom for us all to get out via the stairs, so everyone started moving quickly. About a floor down we started smelling burnt rubber, and then the smoke started, and another floor down and it was pretty thick with white smoke through the stairwell. People went from moving leisurely to almost jumping down the stairs around the third floor, where the smoke was thickest. The trip down seemed to take forever. I made it outside and heard that people were vomiting in the stairwell. ...

Shelley also works in the building:

I can tell you right now, it smelled like an electrical fire, which would also explain all the power outages in the area and why the T isn't running. Some of my company's people were stuck on the low roof (the high-rise part is 16 stories, but there's also a lower addition where Dunkins and Wainright are that's about 5 stories). I saw a couple of windows smashed open around the 7th or 8th floor. Since it started in the basement, a lot of people had to exit out of the parking garage, which I think goes up to about the 5th floor--yeah, it's part of that low addition. There were also a lot of people with smoke inhalation--some people were vomiting on the sidewalk and coughing up some nasty shit. The ambulances had oxygen tanks and someone was handing out bottles of water because that smoke was nasty. I still have a burning sensation in the back of my throat, over an hour later. ...

John Dehlin walked down from the eighth floor:

... As I grabbed my stuff (would you believe that I wouldn’t leave without my laptop and iPod? insane) and went down the stair well, it was full of panicky people. At about the 4th floor (we started at the 8th) the lights went out, and smoke began billowing UP the stairwell. Eyes and throat burning. Fortunately we found our way through the 4th floor to a 2nd stairwell and made it out. ...

Heisenburg: My coat and sweatshirt got a bit saturated with foul-smelling smoke, but I didn't breathe enough of it to need treatment.

Spatch was on what might have been the last train out of Kendall Square:

... The lights on the Kendall platform began to flicker and flash and eventually went out, and we stayed on the station for about a minute before heading across the bridge to Charles. ...

Channel 4: Workers Escape 'Terrifying' Fire In Cambridge.
Channel 5: Building Fills With Smoke, Traps Workers.
boston.com: One dead after explosion in Cambridge office building.
The Herald: One dead after fire in MIT high rise forces rooftop evacuation.