Two-alarm fire at Brookline apartment building

BROOKLINE, Mass. (WHDH) -- An early morning fire at a multi-family building in Brookline forced 17 people into the cold.

Smoke alarms sounded throughout the six apartments just after four in the morning.

Everyone inside managed to get out quickly. “My roommate was still up, he smelled it. He came running down the hall, woke me up, then went out in the hallway and got the girl upstairs, she heard him and she got her roommates out,” said resident Bill Collins.

Firefighters responded to the 2-alarm fire burning at 669 Washington Street, around the Washington Square area.

Collins and others watched from the doorway of a nearby apartment building as firefighters doused their home with water.

The building was in part quite fortunate -- the firehouse is actually located next door to the multi-family home.

“They got the fire knocked down pretty quickly. Firefighters came around the corner; they saw it right there and fortunately they had a hose on it right away,” said Chief Robert Ward of the Brookline Fire Department.

Firefighters said there were heavy flames in the basement. The fire spread through the walls to the first floor and there was smoke and water damage throughout the building.

"It was very fortunate and I’m surprised that at that time of the morning that everybody's smoke detectors went off and everybody was able to get up and out,” said one firefighter.

The Red Cross was on hand to help those displaced by the fire. Residents left on a bus for shelter in a senior center on Winchester Street, without knowing what they'll return to.

“I’m happy I got out but I have no insurance and no play to stay. Kinda bummed,” said Collins.

The fire also forced Washington Street to be closed from Beacon to Park Street during the morning commute, Thursday. The street was cleared and reopened around nine in the morning.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.