Cleanup underway after 9-alarm fire in Boston displaces several families

BOSTON — The cleanup continued on Sunday after a massive, 9-alarm fire in Boston consumed eight structures and displaced seven families.

Some of the fire victims described a chaotic scene when the fire broke out around 4:45 p.m. on Saturday at 39 Old Morton Street on the Dorchester/Mattapan line.

"I saw neighbors running, banging on doors trying to get people out," said neighbor Maria Nguyen.

It moved with tornadic ferocity, igniting eight structures and roaring to 9 alarms,

"I mean pieces of fire were just flying all around the area," Nguyen said.

When it was over, seven families had no place to live.

"They've lost everything and they've been here for so long," Nguyen said.

Mike Nguyen is among the displaced.

"I lived upstairs with my family... my grandmother lived over here," he said.

His grandmother was the only one home when the fire broke out.

"She feels like this is kinda her fault, because if she just noticed she could've called earlier or something," Mike Nguyen said.

But would an earlier call have been much help?

Maria Nguyen lives across the street from the fire scene.

She called 911 immediately after seeing smoke.

"It started spreading so quickly. It was very scary over here," Maria Nguyen said.

As the fire raged, Maria's father took his cellphone video, and although fire didn't damage their home, smoke did.

"The smoke was awful inside my house right now so we actually had to evacuate last night as well," Maria Nguyen said.

Two things helped the fire spread quickly: it was a warm, dry day and it was an extremely windy day, with some gusts approaching 30 miles per hour.

The Fire Department let some families back in to collect whatever belongings they could Sunday morning.

"Nothing really looks salvageable," Mike Nguyen said.

Cox Media Group