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Two people killed in E. Boston blaze

E-mail|Link May 29, 2010 01:28 PM

John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Police tape cordoned off the fire scene in East Boston today.

By Michael Corcoran, Globe Correspondent

Two people died and two were injured in a two-alarm fire in East Boston early this morning, the Boston Fire Department said.

Firefighters responded at about 2:40 a.m. to a fire at 64 Gove St., a three-story apartment where 11 people live, said department spokesman Steve MacDonald. When firefighters arrived, heavy smoke was coming out of the front of the building and heavy fire from a rear window.

Firefighters entered the building to search for trapped occupants. A woman on the third floor was suffering from cardiac arrest and was taken out of the building by firefighters. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died this morning, MacDonald said. Firefighters also discovered a dead male in the building's first floor.

Two other males were rescued from upper floors and were taken to hospitals for treatment burns and smoke inhalation. The names of the dead and injured have not been released.

Fire and police officials are investigating the cause of the fire. 'Nothing has been ruled in or out," MacDonald said.

Fire officials estimated that the building suffered $250,000 in damages. All the occupants of the building, including two children, have been displaced. The Red Cross is assisting some residents with housing, MacDonald said.

Fire officials have not determined if the smoke detectors in the building were working, he said.