Grace Zokovitch
Boston Herald
BOSTON — A wind-whipped fire Sunday climbed to six alarms, scorching the boyhood home of Mark Wahlberg and spreading to three other buildings, according to the Boston Fire Department.
Firefighters responded around 10 a.m., immediately hitting a second alarm, then a third. The four-home blaze rose to a six-alarm behemoth within half an hour, according to the department, drawing out a fleet of around 125 firefighters.
“Obviously the wind was a major factor, and being up on a hill helped,” said Boston Fire spokesperson Brian Alkins. “Being up so high in the windy conditions just pushes fire from building to building.”
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, and one resident was transported to the hospital, said Alkins.
Huddled with a group on the cold street in front of the looming buildings, the parent of a resident of 25 Peverell St. — where Mark Wahlberg grew up — said the family was “fortunate.” When the initial fire hit from the rear of the building, they saw it quickly and made for the door.
The family, he said quietly, had no idea the extent of the damages they were in for.
Wahlberg posted a video of himself returning to the 25 Peverell St. home in 2018, reminiscing, “This is where it all began.”
“We’re out here in Boston shooting ‘Wonderland.’ My old crib’s right here,” Wahlberg said in the video, pointing up at the house towering behind him. … “These streets. Inspired to be better.”
The fire was “complicated,” Alkins said. In addition to the wind and elevation, the spread forced the department to transfer resources between streets, and wires and utility blocked vehicles from getting in close.
It took the department about an hour to contain the blaze, Alkins said.
https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1576681785370501129
By the time the fire was contained, the Peverell Street building was heavily scorched. Firefighters had to attack the fire on the roof of at least one of the Cushing Street homes. The blaze left about $2 million in damages, Alkins said.
Fifteen people in total were displaced, Alkins said. Red Cross has been notified and is ready to assist residents.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
___
©2022 MediaNews Group, Inc.