Boarding house hit by fire to be probed
Nine people escaped a fire in a Dorchester boarding house yesterday morning with only minor injuries, but the city's Inspectional Services Department is investigating whether the house had the required permits.
''We've researched to see if [the boarding house owner] has certificates but we didn't find anything," said Lisa Timberlake, spokeswoman for the city's Inspectional Services Department. The operator of a boarding home would need an occupancy permit, a building permit, and approval from the licensing board, she said. ''We will be investigating this," Timberlake said.
The homeowner, Evelyn Ashby, 51, said after the fire was extinguished yesterday that she went to City Hall several years ago and asked whether she needed any permits to run a rooming house, but was told that she did not. While shuffling through charred debris in her house at 342 Park St., she said 11 tenants and five family members stay in the 2 1/2-story, white, woodframe house. The tenants pay $175 a week, she said.
But Timberlake said, ''In no way would we tell someone that they didn't need permits in a case like this. If, in fact, the owner did contact the city, there is a process we would have walked her through."
Ashby said she had been awakened early yesterday morning by her toddler grandson and immediately smelled something burning. ''I just started to yell and go from room to room, getting people out as quick as I could," she said.
Ashby was taken to Boston Medical Center along with eight other occupants, including five children. They were treated for minor smoke inhalation and released, said Scott Salman, Boston Fire Department spokesman. The two-alarm fire, which started about 7 a.m., was caused by an electrical malfunction or failure, Salman said. The Fire Department was alerted by several calls placed to 911, he said.
Damage to the house was estimated at $300,000, Salman said. The American Red Cross provided temporary shelter to the residents.
''I've lived here for 25 years," Ashby said, surveying the debris in her bedroom. ''Now everything is gone." 