Comm. Avenue fire causes over $5M in damage

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Boston fire crews battled a fire in a five-story building at 17 Commonwealth Avenue Wednesday morning.

The fire tore through the top two floors of a condo. It quickly spread through the ceiling and walls causing $5 million in damages.

“The way the fire traveled -- it was in the stairway, it got into the walls, so you needed a lot of manpower to open up the walls and the ceiling. It was very labor intensive,” said Dep. Fire Chief Richard DiBenedetto of the Boston fire department.

There was only one person home at the time in a third-floor condo. They were able to get out safely.

Investigators said the cause of the fire was an in-floor radiant heater mounted in the fourth floor ceiling to heat a fifth floor room.

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