- Photo by William Tauro

By George P. Hassett

Fire officials are estimating $650,000 in damage after a three alarm fire blazed through four apartments in a wood frame Houghton Street building on Monday.

Eighteen people were displaced after the fire and many required temporary housing assistance from American Red Cross volunteers at the scene, said Somerville Fire Chief of Operations Peter St. Claire.

The building was a four section wood frame row house with a mansard roof which included numbers 34, 36, 38 and 40 Houghton Street.

The fire started in the building’s attic space, St. Claire said. Firefighters used hooks to open the ceilings and hit the fire above them, he said.

Firefighters used hooks to open the ceilings and hit the fire above them, St. Claire said.

The Fire Ground Commander, Deputy Chief James Hodnett had Somerville Ladder 2 raise a 28 foot ladder to the roof and cut five openings in the roof to vent the fire that was burning in the attic space above the second floor ceiling.

In the four addresses, fire officials estimated $450,000 in property damage and $200,000 in personal damage losses. The Somerville Fire Investigation Unit was at the scene investigating the cause of the fire. They have not yet finished their report, St. Claire said.