Two firefighters, one resident hurt in Jamaica Plain rooming house fire

Boston police said South Street is closed from Centre Street to Forest Hills.

Chanel Marnard, 19, who works at Maria's Hair Fashion, across the street from the burning rooming house, said she called 911 after seeing smoke pouring from the building.

Soon thereafter, she said, she saw flames.

"It looks awful,'' she said. There was "nothing but fire.''

At least 10 people are believed to have been displaced by the fire, police said.

Valerie Gustafson, a South Street neighbor, said she rushed home from work after neighbors called her to warn her about the nearby fire. She said she saw heavy black smoke and flames coming from the house.

Gustafson, 28, said her building has not been evacuated, but many of her neighbors in the building had taken their pets out of the building just in case.

"JP is a small, close-knit neighborhood, and a couple of my neighbors called to say the house next door is on fire and up in huge flames, come get your dog out," Gustafson said. "The whole area around a couple blocks away was smoky."

Smoke was so thick that it seeped into neighboring businesses.

Ardi Kotoni, owner of Fixatronix Computers whose business is directly across South Street from the fire, said he had to open the back door and start up a few fans after smoke began to fill his first-floor business.

"It was all very visible, the flames," Kotoni said. "It was pretty bad."