Careless disposal of cigarette blamed for $3m Boston harbor fire

A worker who tossed a lit cigarette from a second-floor deck sparked a three-alarm fire that destroyed a Commercial Wharf office building perched on wooden pilings in Boston Harbor, the fire department said this afternoon. Damage was estimated at $3 million.

Five firefighters were injured fighting the blaze that required the use of the department’s fire boat and about a dozen rescue divers, who got into the harbor so they could direct fire hoses onto the burning wooden pilings underneath the building, said department spokesman Steve MacDonald.
“The employee was working late into the night and would go out onto the second floor balcony for a cigarette break,’’ MacDonald said, summarizing what the unidentified worker told fire investigators.

MacDonald said investigators reached the conclusion that cigarette disposal was to blame after studying the burn pattern of the property and eliminating all other possibilities, such as malfunctioning utility systems.

“The cause was careless disposal of the cigarette,’’ MacDonald said.

He said it was not clear if the fire was started by improper disposal of just one cigarette, or multiple cigarettes. However he said, a single, still-burning cigarette could easily be responsible for the fire and the building's destruction.

“The place is a total loss and the property owners are going to have to make some decisions about the building itself,’’ said MacDonald.

MacDonald said the first alarm was struck around 5:15 a.m. and the arriving companies immediately struck a second alarm. A third alarm quickly followed, he said. The five firefighters suffered minor injuries.

With the noise of smoke alarms still sounding in the background, attorney Steve Lyons described how he learned his office was destroyed, taking with it the files and mementos he had amassed over a 31-year legal career.

“I live nearby and this morning I woke up and looked out from my balcony and saw my office in flames,’’ Lyons said in a calm but sad voice. “So I came down here, unfortunately to find my office totally engulfed and all the offices around it in flames.’’

"What I found out is that everything appears to be a total loss, 31 years of work. But everybody is safe and no one was hurt. That’s what I found out," he said.

The main occupant of the building was the Sarrouf Corso law firm, according to MacDonald.

Lyons said his goal is to rebuild his professional life.

“My plan is to salvage what I can and to save what I can of my clients' records, and rebuild,’’ he said. “But unfortunately, it looks like it’s not going to be an easy task.’’