One person died, five were rushed to the hospital and 30 Eastie residents have been displaced after an early morning blaze tore through two homes.
Fabricio Paes said that he woke shortly after 5 a.m. to the sounds of “people screaming, glass shattering” and thought at first that his two young sons were making a ruckus before school. But then the smell of smoke hit him.
Paes’ family lives on the third floor of 432 Meridian St. The address was the second home hit in the fire called in shortly before 5 a.m. By the time the fire was knocked out, the upper half of the building was a blackened shell.
Paes said that the smoke and then the sounds of his downstairs neighbor pounding on his door and screaming that everyone needed to “get out” woke him out of his funk and into action. By the time he closed his door with his family rushing down the stairs in front of him, he said, his “entire floor was filled with thick, black smoke.”
The roughly 130 firefighters defeated the brunt of the blaze at around 8:30 a.m. In all, the blaze had displaced about 30 residents, as well as some pet birds. One firefighter and six residents, including at least one child, were rushed to the nearest hospital. One resident had been pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
Homicide detectives were dispatched to the scene, which a Boston Police Department spokesman said could indicate the death was deemed suspicious.
“The first firefighters that got here had heavy fire showing from two buildings and did rescue of five people over aerial ladders,” Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Burke said from the scene. He said the “stubborn fire” had spread to two other homes.
In all, the Fire Department estimated the total damage at $5 million. The two homes most affected by the fire, 432 and 430 Meridian Street — right at the intersection with West Eagle Street — had a combined assessed value of about $1.86 million, with about $1.34 of that as building value, according to city tax records.
At approximately 5:00 heavy fire in a large multi family building on Meridian st East Boston that traveled to the adjacent building . Heavy fire throughout the building , this is now a 6 alarm. pic.twitter.com/MyGNTVDTZu
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024
There was visible damage to other valuable accessories in proximity to the homes. The hood of a white Toyota Corolla parked behind 430 Meridian St. was blackened and twisted from the heat of the raging fire. All of its windows had been blown out.
The fire, according to authorities and those like Paes displaced by it, first engulfed 430 Meridian St. The multi-family dwelling housed, by at least one neighbor’s estimate, about seven families — three of whom the neighbor knew.
Luckily, Juanita Brown said that everyone she was close with in the building was fine, but one of the women told her that “She’s devastated. She lost everything.”
“I just want to get down on my hands and knees and pray for them,” Brown said, adding that it is the first time she has experienced a big fire in the 16 years she has lived in the immediate area.
She said she’s already reached out to Mayor Michelle Wu and East Boston’s city councilor, Gabriela “Gigi” Coletta, to ask about how she can help, and she encouraged others to do the same.
Companies are attacking the exposure building with and interior and exterior attack and from the roof deck from the building in the rear to keep it from spreading down block pic.twitter.com/zCEYGiMRNa
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024
At the scene of the blaze, Mayor Wu described the fire as “incredibly heartbreaking,” adding that she shares “her deepest condolences” with the family of the unidentified person who died.
“We will do whatever we can to help all of those who have been displaced,” Wu said, adding the quick response of the firefighters from all around the city saved the day.
Coletta tweeted a link to a fundraiser page run by the East Boston Social Centers that specifies that it’s “focused on raising money to provide families with help and dignity as they navigate this tragedy.”
Coletta tweeted that she’s “Grateful to the @BostonFire, @BOSTON_EMS @bostonpolice and all first responders who acted quickly to maintain this 6-alarm fire in East Boston.”
The fire remains under investigation.
Over 130 Firefighters battled the 6 alarm fire. Companies starting to make up 30 residents , a couple of birds displaced 1 Firefighter and 6 residents were transported @BOSTON_EMS . Damages estimated at 5 million dollars. pic.twitter.com/pBnnYWsnDs
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024
Commissioner Burke and @MayorWu brief the media on the 6 alarm fire in East Boston. 5 residents were rescued over ladders but sadly there was 1 fatality. pic.twitter.com/qO2GJGLqHv
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) April 2, 2024
