Two views of the fire. Photos by BFD.
Update: How to donate to help the families.
Boston firefighters responded to Ellington Street in Dorchester for what turned into a six-alarm fire in two three deckers around 3:50 p.m.
The Boston Fire Department reports the fire started at the rear of 21 Ellington and jumped to 19 Ellington.
The department reports 29 residents were displaced and one had to be transported to a local hospital.
Peter Recore spotted the smoke from the top of Peters Hill in the Arnold Arboretum in Roslindale:
Fire crews from surrounding communities, including Quincy, Brookline, Dedham and Needham came into Boston to cover some of the Boston firehouses emptied as crews responded to the fire.
A Brookline truck responded with one from Boston to a brush fire in Allston's Ringer Park around 4:50 p.m., not long after Quincy firefighters responded to a three-car crash on Morrissey Boulevard.
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Comments
Let’s hear it for smokers! As
By Kinopio
Sat, 11/25/2023 - 9:45pm
Let’s hear it for smokers! As considerate as they are smart!
Probably not from smoking.
By Tim Mc.
Sat, 11/25/2023 - 10:52pm
This sort of thing is usually due to a grill or similar.
Actually not.
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 6:25am
The number one cause of residential fires is improperly attended smoking materials.
The fire that destroyed the building next to me and partially destroyed mine began in an ashtray on a back porch.
Smokers are destroyers and murderers in many ways.
Yes.
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 1:11pm
And?
Where did you hear that this particular fire was due to smoking?
Can you wait until the cause is published before jumping in? 29 people lost everything here, even if it was just one person smoking (which we don't know as yet).
Triple-deckers are notorious for going up like Roman candles because most are "balloon construction" and lack fire breaks between floors. Seems that porches are a major fire conduit as well.
Consider a donation to the Red Cross, as they are pretty stretched this year and do provide direct relief to families like these.
And?
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:01pm
Where did you hear that my comment attributes that fire to smoking?
My response was to probability in Tim Mc’s comment. And it is accurate.
The facts are already out there and have been for a long time on the major cause of residential fires.
How about you learn to read things twice or three times before you mouth off one of your grandiose opinions.
Maybe just not post at all if you been smoking.
Do you own a mirror?
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 3:00pm
Maybe you should buy one and read your own comments to it.
Your projector isn't working so well.
Something clearly isn’t working so well…
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 3:05pm
… for you today.
But you can spare us the details.
Lee Cinemas
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 3:12pm
... for the most projection ever!
Maybe the mirror isn't a good idea - you already think everything is about you.
Residential fires, sure.
By Tim Mc.
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 10:46pm
But it looks like this one started on the back porch, and those specifically I think are more likely to be caused by grills. Could be wrong, though!
Could be right, could be wrong.
By Lee
Mon, 11/27/2023 - 2:00am
Porches are where many people go to smoke and in Boston charcoal grills are prohibited on porches unless they are on the first floor and conform to certain requirements. Not that people always respect that law.
It’s all academic at this point, though.
flammable
By AdamA
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 9:53am
My mom's neighbor was smoking near his oxygen mask and blew his house up.
That’s terrible.
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:41pm
To lose your home while disabled. I hope he wasn’t without a home for too long.
Worse if caused by careless neighbor.
You Are Such An Asshole
By John Costello
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 12:45pm
Multiple people homeless.
Hundreds of Thousands in equity lost which will take a while to regain.
Pets homeless.
People having their lives rearranged against their will.
There was no mention of smoking as the cause by the BFD.
You are such a self-centered mold.
My sentiments exactly
By Cleary Squared
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:02pm
The 29 displaced residents who now have to find new homes would appreciate it if smug, snide, and self-centered speculation are kept to absolute zero until the investigation is completed.
You know these 29 displaced residents and what they want?
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:13pm
In my case I was very glad smoking came up after the fire.
When I and my neighbors were displaced by a smoker I was very grateful to the fire chief who came to inspect our building after it was safe to be on the property and BEFORE the cause of the next door fire was established who found evidence of a downstairs neighbor in my building improperly using smoking materials, spoke directly to him wearing his fancy ceremonial with the brass and gold braid uniform and had a subordinate issue a big fine to the landlord. That would not have happened if one of the firefighters putting out the fire next door hadn’t spoken up and told him about what he saw as a dangerous situation in our building.
We could have ended up in a more horrible situation than just needing the Red Cross that night had someone kept their thought about the hazards of smoking to themselves.
Get real, if you care about anyone who has lived through …
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:21pm
…. or not survived a fire.
Smoker’s hurt feelings are irrelevant.
Settle down, John Boy
By Lee
Sun, 11/26/2023 - 2:17pm
You are still the biggest asshole around.
Amazing, all this discontent
By anon
Mon, 11/27/2023 - 7:58am
Amazing, all this discontent and no facts.
statistics are facts.
By cinnamngrl
Mon, 11/27/2023 - 12:25pm
I think it may be worse because most smokers go outside these days. A wooden porch and smoking creates risk for the whole building.
Which statistics?
By brianjdamico
Mon, 11/27/2023 - 1:19pm
I haven't actually seen anyone cite any actual statistics here.
In the US, smoking is the leading determined cause of FATAL fires (24%) however in terms of all residential fires, they only account for the cause 5% of the time.
Now if you want to say that those are national statics and don't account for particular details in this situation, sure, that's true, but I don't think anyone has conducted a detailed analysis specifically of the causes of 3 decker house fires involving the rear porches in Dorchester.
Cooking accounts for 49% of house fires in the US, then it's heating equipment, then electrical, then arson, then smoking.
2023 report from the NFPA looking at house fires in the US over a 5 year period: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/resear...
If you want to look at MA specific statistics, from 2021, the causes are only detailed for fatal residential fires. Weirdly, it states that smoking was the leading cause of FATAL fires that year with 29% but the chart also shows that electrical fires also caused 29% of the fatal house fires that year... https://www.mass.gov/doc/2021-fire-fact-sheet/down...
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