Fire injures 7 at East Boston development

A three-alarm blaze sent seven people to the hospital early yesterday morning and left more than a dozen residents unable to return home to a housing complex for the elderly on Father Jacobee Road in East Boston.

The fire broke out about 6:50 a.m. in a third-floor apartment at the five-story Heritage Elderly Housing development, said Steve MacDonald, a Boston Fire Department spokesman Several people had been released from the hospital by the afternoon, but one person remained in serious condition, MacDonald said.

The complex is owned by the Boston Housing Authority and managed by a private company, said Lydia Agro, a BHA spokeswoman.

Fire investigators determined that the cause of the fire was a short circuit in the kitchen of one of the third-floor apartments, MacDonald said. He estimated damage at $500,000.

About 90 firefighters were sent to the scene, and about 150 people had to evacuate, MacDonald said. He said most of the residents later returned to their apartments.