Residents of a six-unit building in Jamaica Plain were displaced Sunday morning after a fire and the discovery of a structural problem with part of the rear wall, according to NBC Boston. It was not clear when residents of 211 Boylston St. would be able to return.
Firefighters responded to the Boylston Street address and extinguished the fire quickly, NBC Boston reported, citing firefighters. The evacuation followed a finding during overhaul that a portion of the building’s back wall was not structurally sound. The report did not describe the extent of that problem beyond the affected section.
The number of people displaced was not consistent within NBC Boston’s initial coverage. The outlet’s headline put the total at 12, while the accompanying account described the number as greater than a dozen. Both versions indicated residents had been forced from their homes, but the report left the precise total unresolved.
The structural finding was central to the account of why residents were evacuated. Although crews had quickly put out the fire, their work at the building revealed a separate concern about the rear wall. NBC Boston reported that residents were evacuated after that discovery; it did not provide a timetable for allowing them back inside.
Six-unit property affected
The building contains six residential units, according to NBC Boston. The initial report did not give a unit-by-unit account of the fire’s effects or say how many of the apartments sustained damage. It also did not specify where within the property the fire began or how far it spread before firefighters extinguished it.
The available account identifies two stages of the response: the rapid extinguishment of the fire and the later identification of the wall problem during overhaul. It does not establish whether the structural condition resulted from the fire. No cause for the fire was included in the report.
For the displaced residents, the immediate unresolved issue was access to their homes. The report established that they had been evacuated but offered no details about temporary accommodations or arrangements for their return. It also did not identify any repair work or other measures that would be needed at the property.
NBC Boston characterized its coverage as developing. Its initial account was focused on the response at the Boylston Street building, the structural discovery and the displacement of residents. Beyond the six-unit count, it provided no further description of the property or an estimate of damage.
What’s next: Whether and when residents can return remained unknown in the initial report. NBC Boston said it would update its coverage, with the exact displacement count and the building’s status still unresolved in the available account.