JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. -- A painting crew using a propane torch may have started a fire yesterday that gutted part of a historic Jamaica Plain mansion, leaving one family homeless, three firefighters injured and causing an estimated $2.5 million in damage, authorities said.
The crew apparently was using the torch about 3 p.m. at 1 Dane St. when it sparked a fire that traveled up to the roof of the three-story, wood frame home, Fire Chief Kevin MacCurtain said.
"It's a house, not a kid. We can replace the house," said owner Will Fulton, whose three kids ages 10, 8 and 5 managed to escape unharmed with their nanny and dog.
The sole casualty, Fulton said, was a fish named Little George.
Fulton paid $1.6 million for the house in April 2007, records show. But a neighbor said the house has been undergoing extensive renovations.
More than 100 firefighters spent some three hours battling the five-alarm blaze. Three suffered minor injuries, MacCurtain said.
After the fire gutted the third floor, a "widow's walk," a railed rooftop platform became in danger of collapsing, and he ordered firefighters out of the house to battle the blaze from outside.
"We're concerned with the integrity of the roof," MacCurtain said. "It's a slate roof, and when slate starts falling, it's a dangerous situation."
Republished with permission of The Boston Herald.
