Fire breaks out in four-story building in Jamaica Plain

BOSTON — Martin Soto shot video of a fire burning at 3118 Washington St. in Jamaica Plain with his cellphone before running inside the building and yelling for people to get out.

"I just heard a little girl talking, 'My brothers sleeping inside,' so I went in and tried to knock doors," Soto said.

Martin is the manager of a barber shop on the ground level. There are apartments on the upper three floors.

The damage from the fire is estimated at $1 million, with exposure damage also at 17 Weld Ave.

With five children to care for, the Thursday afternoon fire left Magaly Torres feeling like she's burned by life.

"We came here to start over and here we are," Torres said. "We lose everything again."

The single mother and her kids lived in a battered women's shelter located inside the large four-story building that caught fire Thursday.

"By the time I got changed and got out all the smoke was already...," Torres told. "The fire was breaking, had broken the window in the apartment."

Torres' oldest says it all happened so fast.

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"I looked up and the living room was glowing orange," said Yesenia Andino. "I pulled the blinds open and looked out and saw this enormous fire reaching up the porch above us."

Investigators suspect the fire started in the rear of the building, possibly on a porch. The blaze quickly spread through every floor.

"Everybody got out, fortunately, and at this time we're just investigating it," said Deputy Chief Andre Stallworth of Boston Fire.

Twelve-year-old Yaliah escaped with her little sister in her arms. Seconds felt like hours as the two waited for the rest of the family to get out.

"Since my mom and my older sister were the last to come, I didn't know where they were," Andino added.

Now the concern is where to go next.

"I don't know," said Torres. "I don't know what we're going to do."

The Red Cross tweeted early Friday that it is helping 87 residents, including 58 children, who were displaced by the fire.

Cox Media Group