Charlestown Fire Rages in Freezing Temperatures

In single-digit temperatures, firefighters battled a multi-alarm fire.
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Photos via the Boston Fire Department

Firefighters in Charlestown battled a multi-alarm blaze in single-digit temperatures Friday, dousing the flames while coating their equipment with a thick layer of ice.

Photos shared by the Boston Fire Department show just how challenging the conditions were at the site of the six-alarm fire, which was first reported at 6:45 a.m. Two firefighters reportedly sustained minor injuries. Officials say most of the fire had been doused, but crews were still targeting “hot spots” just before 11 a.m. and continued to spray the site with water into the mid-afternoon.

As temperatures hovered around 2 degrees at the chilliest part of the morning, there were icicles hanging from ladders, frozen tree limbs cascading over vehicles, and much of the roadway on Bunker Hill Street was transformed into an ice rink.

A ladder, frozen, had to be thawed.

Officials say as many as 25 residents have been displaced. In a tweet, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh pledged to “do all we can for those impacted by this morning’s fire.”

The building, which houses the Monument Laundromat, was among sites featured in the movie The Town.

The fire department urged those looking to help out those impacted by the fire to give to the Red Cross.

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