This story was originally published March 25.
Firefighters from five stations responded to a fire at a townhouse on Linden Drive in the Preston Heights area of Cambridge early Monday morning.
The Cambridge Fire Department says the blaze was "quickly extinguished" and an investigator is on the scene to determine the cause, origin and circumstances.
Chief fire prevention officer, Eric Yates was on scene to assess the damage and told CambridgeToday that the fire likely happened on the back deck around 4 a.m.
"The person sleeping in the back room probably heard whatever was going on down there and was able to wake everyone up and get them out," said Yates.
Fire crews quickly got the blaze under control and Yates noted only the one unit was affected with at least six residents displaced.
One of the residents agreed to speak with CambridgeToday, but asked for his name to be kept anonymous due to fear of repercussions.
"I was coming home from shift work and then the fire happened," said the resident. "There are six of us living here and we all have temporary accommodations for the next three days."
The resident is one of at least six people who lived in the townhouse, but Yates noted there were around eight to 10 people in the house at the time of the fire.
All of them are students at Conestoga College just down the road from where the fire occurred.
At this time the cause of the fire is unknown and there is no estimate for how much damage was caused.
Pranjit Singh lives across the street and watched the fire happen from his window. He was awoken around 3:30 a.m. and watched as the residents escaped the home.
"I was sleeping and all I hear is this noise so I look out my window and there is just a group of people coming out of the house," said Singh. "It was scary, but I'm glad they all got out okay."
According to Yates, the Red Cross is putting these students up for three days in a hotel until they can find long-term shelter.
"I don't know what we're going to do from here, but we're going to have to figure it out soon," said the resident.
Firefighters from 5 Stations quickly extinguished a working Townhouse fire on Linden Dr earlier this morning. CFD Investigator is on scene to determine the cause origin and circumstances of this fire. @cityofcambridge @CPFFALocal499 pic.twitter.com/eJivSKfJHT
— Cambridge Fire Dept (@CambridgeFD) March 25, 2024
