Fire Officials Investigate Brookline Fire Near Washington Square

BROOKLINE, MA — Fire officials are investigating just what caused a fire to break out at an apartment building on Beacon Street, near Washington Square. All residents made it out ok, and no firefighters were injured in the fire, according to Brookline Fire Chief John Sullivan.

The chief said the fire started in a first floor unit of the multi-unit apartment building, where a family was in the process of moving out of their apartment. They were next door when they saw smoke coming from their old apartment.

" I didn't know what to think," said Brian Julian who was with his wife and two young children watching as crews put out the fire. "When I saw the smoke I came out and was going to call 911, but they were already here."

Julian said the building's alarms were going off and triggered an automatic call to the fire department, which is around the corner. Crews arrived just before 11:15 a.m. at 1688 Beacon St.

Some 45 minutes later the fire was out. Sullivan said no one was injured and crews were able to keep the fire to the one unit. He said he expected everyone but the residents of the one apartment where the fire started to return to their homes by the end of the day. The Julian family said they had already moved about half of their belongings, and were thankful they planned to stay in their new apartment tonight.

"All in all it was a good stop," Sullivan told Patch. "The men and women of the fire department did a fantastic job here today to make sure it didn't extend beyond that one apartment."

Police closed Beacon Street outbound between Washington Square and Tappan Street as crews worked.

See what the Brookline Fire Chief had to say about it:

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).