Car Blocks Firefighters From Putting Out South End Apartment Fire

A three-alarm fire ignited by a halogen lamp has engulfed in flames a South End apartment building. Firefighters said that two children and five adults who lived in the apartment were taken out. The fire also affected one of the neighbors who was forced out of the apartment building.

According to the fire officials, the fire department received a call at 7:20 a.m. reporting a fire at 64 Rutland street. The call said that the four story building was in flames and all four apartments of the apartment building were in great danger. By the time the firefighters got to the South End apartment fire, the building, especially the third floor, was engulfed in heavy flames.

The firefighters found it very difficult to battle the South End apartment fire because a BMW station wagon was parked right in front of a fire hydrant. The BMW was parked illegally, sources say.
Steve MacDonald, the spokesman for the Boston Fire Department said that the firefighters could not use fire from the fire hydrant because the car was parked too close to the water source. The water just couldn’t run through the kinked hose, MacDonald said. He also said that people who park their cars so close to a fire hydrant are not aware of the dangers they provoke. A fire can happen anywhere, at any time, and blocking the fire hydrant can make it very difficult for the firefighters to put it out.

The owner of the BMW vehicle who blocked the firefighters from putting out the South End apartment fire, is Jeffery Conklin, a retired executive. He said that he felt very bad when he received a call saying that his car is parked illegally too close to a fire hydrant and is blocking the firefighters from doing their job and put out a dangerous fire.

Conklin said that he had not driven the BMW since last Thursday, after parking it on Rutland Street, not far from his home. He said in his defense that he is not a negligent man and that he didn’t see the fire hydrant when he parked his car.

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Anne-Marie Jackson

Anna grew up on a steady diet of 20th century literature, science-fiction movies and Viking lore. Unsurprisingly she turned into a technology geek with an inclination for history & fantasy.