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Around 7:30 a.m. on January 29, 2005 Somerville, Masachusetts Fire Department responded to a fire at 504 Somerville Avenue.
First arriving companies had heavy smoke showing from a large 2 1/2 story woodframe house. The fire was already spreading to another 2 1/2 story woodframe house on the Number 2 exposure. Second, third, fourth, and fifth alarms were transmitted all within a few minutes.
After making an aggressive interior attack firefighters were forced to evacuate the building of origin.
Two ladder pipes, a tower ladder, and multiple handlines went to work in a surround and drown attack.
Other firefighters fought the fire in the exposure building, which suffered heavy damage on the top floor.
The sixth alarm was struck later in the fire when a need for relief crews arose.
In addition to Somerville, firefighters from Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, and Winchester responded to the fire. The cause of the fire is believed to be a faulty furnace.
