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Fire guts Cambridge building, cat is saved

E-mail|Link|Comments () December 5, 2009 09:40 PM

By John M. Guilfoil, Globe correspondent

CAMBRIDGE -- A two-alarm fire gutted a commercial building containing an auto repair shop on Monsignor O'Brien Highway late Friday night.

The call came in around 11:15 p.m., and the first responding fire crews quickly called for additional units. The fire destroyed a Meineke Car Care Center and several cars inside the shop. An SUV could be clearly seen still on a hydraulic lift, burned where it stood.

Fire crews acted quickly, and prevented the fire from spreading to a gas station located some 10 feet from the fire's most intense spots in the auto shop. Crews from Somerville aided Cambridge firefighters at the scene.

The fire occurred in the same building that was the target of an arson in 2006 that destroyed the Boston Tropical Fish and Reptile pet store. Dozens of animals were killed in the Sept. 27, 2006, blaze that was set by the store's manager and two accomplices who were sentenced to prison in 2008, the Globe reported at the time.

Fire officials would not say if last night's fire was suspicious, but the department requested investigators from the office of State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.

Cambridge Deputy Fire Chief Edward Morrissey said there were no reports of injuries, but the fire had its moment of drama. Firefighters from Squad 4, a team specially geared for fire rescues, pulled a small black kitten from the blaze after it reached out to one of the firefighter's boots. Paramedics on the scene gave the animal oxygen as it cried out and shivered, soaking wet. A medic on the scene decided to call the cat "Smokey," and it is expected to be OK.

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com