Fire Rips Through Townhouses on Franklin Ave

At 9:30 this morning my neighborhood was blanketed in choking smoke from a four-alarm blaze on Franklin Ave.

The fire began in the corner of a townhouse unit and rapidly spread through 6 homes within an hour via the shared attic. Witnesses say there was a lack of water pressure for almost a half hour when firefighters began fighting the blaze.

I arrived on the scene just as the fire was spreading to the second house and tried to comfort one of the tenants whose cats were trapped inside the third. Initially everyone was convinced that the fire could be stopped, but 3 hours later it had gutted all 6 homes and firefighters were desperately trying to prevent it from spreading to the next row of houses.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

Photos after the jump.

All photos by Richelle Forsey.