Three-alarm Dorchester fire sends two to hospital, displaces 14 more

By Evan Allen and Jaclyn Reiss, Globe Correspondents

Two Dorchester residents were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation after a three-alarm fire trapped them inside a burning six-family housing complex on Everett Avenue Sunday evening.

The blaze started in the basement of 5 Everett Ave at around 4:15 in the evening, and raced up through the walls to engulf the building in minutes, according to Boston Fire Department Deputy Chief Jay Fleming.

The fire went to three alarms very quickly, said Fleming, because firefighters were busy racing against the flames to search the apartments for victims and they needed as much manpower as possible.

Two victims, a man and a woman, were rescued from the third floor and taken to the hospital “in reasonably good condition,” said Fleming. No further information was available on their condition.

The fire displaced a total of 14 adults, including the two taken to the hospital, and two children, said Fleming, and the Red Cross was assisting them. A dog was also rescued from the building. Officials estimated that the blaze caused about $500,000 worth of property damage. It did not appear suspicious, said Fleming.

Residents said that the fire moved so fast they couldn’t tell whether it was coming from the floors or ceilings.

“I don’t know if it was coming through the walls, I have absolutely no idea,” said Reyna Tejeda, 24, who lives on the first floor of the building. “I don’t know if it was from down-up, or up-down. I have no idea.”

The building did have working smoke alarms, which residents said they heard ringing.

Officials said that the building in Sunday’s fire is attached to another six-family duplex that had a multi-alarm fire about a year ago. That building has been vacant and boarded since then.