Luckily, residents of the Rush Street 3-family home were not present during the fire as the building had been undergoing renovations at the time of the incident. - Photo by Bobbie Toner

By Andrew Firestone

Authorities are calling a two-alarm fire that swept through an unoccupied 3-family home on Rush Street “suspicious” today, since the actual cause for the blaze could not be identified.

“The fire is under investigation by the Somerville Fire Department Investigation Unit, the Somerville Police, and the State Fire Marshall’s Office,” said Somerville Fire Marshal Kevin Kelleher. Kelleher said the fire originated on the first floor of the house.

The Somerville Fire Department received calls regarding the fire at 11:41 p.m. and arrived, calling in a second alarm 11:49 p.m., on May 29. The last firefighter left the scene at around 6:45 on the morning of May 30, Memorial Day.

One firefighter, Joseph Scullari of engine seven was transported to MGH due to extreme heat exhaustion. Six others received minor injuries but remained on duty.

The fire inflicted severe damage to the interior and exterior of the house, which was fortunately unoccupied. The three families living there were absent due to renovations being performed by the owner of the building, a Hanson, MA native.