Two cars destroyed in Allston arson

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

Two cars were destroyed when a fire tore through the garage of a home in Allston early this morning. Officials have declared the blaze arson, similar to the string of car fires last fall, according to a fire department spokesman.

“This one follows the pattern of previous Allston fires in that the cars were parked off the street and unattended,” said Steve MacDonald, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. “The other fires we’ve had, the cars were in driveways in and backyards.”

Firefighters responded to the private one-story detached garage near 15 Long Ave. around 8 a.m. today, MacDonald said.

The strength of the fire, which engulfed the two cars, a Honda Civic and an Acura, whose model could not be determined, prevented firefighters from entering the two-car garage when they arrived, MacDonald said.

From the street, firefighters extinguished most of the blaze, then sprayed foam into the cars to smother flames in the engines and seats, MacDonald said. The cars were destroyed, as were the garage door and back window.

“The garage is made of concrete, so we were were fortunate that way, that the concrete walls and roof did not collapse,” MacDonald said.

No injuries were reported.

Nine cars were burned during a three-month period last fall along Pratt, Ashford, Wadsworth and Highgate streets in Allston.

Fire officials drew parallels among all the fires, the most brazen of which damaged five cars on the morning of Sept. 24, 2011, but said a definite link has not been established.

MacDonald said the investigation of last fall’s fires was still active.

“It’s been a while, but it still had remained active,” he said. “The investigators have been spending time on it.”