24 displaced in 4-alarm fire at Somerville condo
Jarret Bencks
Firefighters outside 106 Walnut St. in Somerville Thursday morning.
A fire early Thursday morning at a Somerville condominium complex has left 24 people homeless, according to fire officials.
The fire started in the basement at 106 Walnut St. at about 5:30 a.m. and spread up the three-story building through the walls, District Fire Chief Jay Keane said. It took about two hours to fully knock the fire down and check the walls for hot spots, Keane said.
Every floor received smoke and water damage, Keane said.
Mac Gross, 25, first ignored the fire alarm when it went off in his second-floor apartment at about 5 a.m., figuring it was a false alarm, he said. But then it went off again, and the power went off.
"I opened up the door to the hall, and there was a ton of smoke pouring in," Gross said. "Then I just started going around banging on doors."
Walnut Street from Medford Street to Pearl Street remained closed as of 10 a.m., as crews worked to pump water out of the basement, which was unfinished and used as storage space by some tenants.
The American Red Cross was on the scene to provide aid to the displaced residents.
A total of nine engines and seven ladder trucks responded to the fire, Keane said. Windows on all floors were smashed to provide ventilation.
There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, he said.
Jarret Bencks can be reached at bencks.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @JarretBencks.
