A five-alarm fire that tore through a mixed-use building in Somerville’s Teele Square on Wednesday displaced 43 residents and forced several businesses to close. Investigators suspect the blaze was electrical in origin, according to Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen.
The fire broke out shortly before 5 p.m. at 1137-1147 Broadway, a three-story brick building containing 32 apartments above several ground-floor businesses. All occupants escaped safely, though several firefighters sustained minor injuries. Two cats were also rescued.
Wednesday’s blaze occurred almost 15 years after another major fire destroyed a commercial building across Broadway during an October snowstorm. The three-alarm fire on Oct. 29, 2011, began at Hawk Cleaners and damaged several neighboring businesses and a Somerville police substation. Investigators subsequently ruled the fire accidental but could not determine its precise cause. The building was demolished, and the lot has remained vacant ever since.
In a striking coincidence, Somerville’s Zoning Board of Appeals was scheduled to consider a hotel proposal for the site of the 2011 fire on Wednesday evening, as firefighters battled another major blaze directly across the street. The two properties share the same owners: Laxmi and Jharana Pradhan, who are seeking zoning variances to construct an eight-story, 93-foot tall hotel on the long-vacant lot. The proposal would replace a previously approved six-story hotel whose permit has since expired. In their application, the owners cite suspected soil contamination from a former dry cleaner and redevelopment costs as reasons for seeking permission to build a larger hotel.
According to Middlesex South Registry of Deeds records, Laxmi and Jharana Pradhan, trustees of the Shree Ganesh Realty Trust, purchased the building damaged on Wednesday for $4.5 million in 2005. Somerville assessor records value the property at approximately $3.1 million for fiscal 2026, based on its value as of Jan. 1, 2025, well before the fire.
Firefighters at the Teele Square station, located directly across the street from Wednesday’s blaze, had just returned from another emergency response when they heard the building’s fire alarm and spotted smoke rising from its roof at 4:50 p.m., Breen said in an email Friday.
Within seven minutes, the department had called a second alarm. A third followed at 5:03 p.m., a fourth at 5:09 p.m. and a fifth at 5:42 p.m. Firefighters remained at the scene until 10:50 p.m., six hours after the fire was first reported.
The blaze appears to have originated in the building’s cockloft, a large, open space between the third-floor ceilings and the underside of the roof. Breen said the exposed, dry wood in the century-old building allowed the flames to spread rapidly throughout the space, making the fire particularly difficult to extinguish.
“The only way to extinguish this type of fire is to cut through the roof from above and pull down the ceilings from below,” Breen said. “This fire was extremely labor intensive due to all the work needed to expose and extinguish the fire.”
Firefighters extended five aerial ladders to the roof and deployed multiple hose lines on the third floor. Departments from Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Lexington, Malden, Medford, Revere and Watertown assisted in battling the blaze, while firefighters from Stoneham, Waltham and Winchester provided emergency coverage elsewhere in Somerville. The Medford Fire Department also deployed a drone to provide aerial visibility and help coordinate the response.
The building’s third floor and roof suffered heavy fire, smoke and water damage, while the lower floors sustained extensive water damage. All 32 apartments are currently uninhabitable, and Breen said Somerville Inspectional Services will determine the building’s future status.
The fire also shut down several ground-floor businesses, including Teele Square Coin Laundry, the Happy Crab and Masala restaurants, Blue Moon smoke shop and Al-Aswad Dental, according to the Cambridge/Somerville Independent.
The city and the American Red Cross are working to secure temporary accommodations and provide assistance to the 43 displaced residents. On Thursday, Somerville announced that it had activated its Emergency Displacement Fund, administered in partnership with the Somerville Homeless Coalition, to provide direct financial assistance to residents affected by the fire.
The city is requesting financial donations rather than physical goods. Contributions can be made through the Somerville Homeless Coalition’s Emergency Displacement Fund.
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