3- Alarm Fire At Neena's In Coolidge Corner, Brookline [Photos]

BROOKLINE, MA — Firefighters battled a 3-Alarm Fire with heavy smoke and hot conditions on a hot day in the basement of Neena's Lighting on Beacon Street in Coolidge Corner Thursday afternoon.

The fire prompted several road closures including Beacon Street for most of the afternoon as Brookline and area firefighters, some 150 in total, worked to put out the fire 1299 Beacon St. Patch was at the scene, where the front windows of Neena's lighting shop were shattered and firefighters were still fighting the active fire at 2:30 p.m. Brookline Police were out directing traffic, which had become backed up beyond Summit Avenue and both directions on Harvard Street.

Several firefighters suffered minor heat related injuries and some lacerations, according to Chief of Operations Keith Flaherty. He said the trickiest part of the fire was getting access to the basement, because of lighting shop inventory down there blocking passage.

"We had to go in sideways in some places," he said. It also took a while to find the origin of the fire.
"It took a while to find the seed,"he told Patch at 3:30 p.m.

The department got the call about the fire at 1:26 p.m. firefighters were on scene quickly from Brookline, then Newton and Cambridge came as the fire went to a 2-alarm and then Boston and Somerville came in to help out as it hit 3-alarms.

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When firefighters first arrived they reported the front of the building facing Beacon Street looked, ok, but another crew which went around back to check out the back door, were greeted with heavy fire in the basement of the building. As a precaution, the parking lot at Trader Joe's was closed, although the grocery store stayed open.

An adjacent yoga studio was evacuated, according to Tatyana Souza the Coolidge Corner Yoga owner. She the evacuation happened to happen between classes so there wasn't too much of a disruption. Souza said her yoga studio had a firewall, so she was hopeful there wouldn't be too much damage.

At this point there's no official word yet on the damage estimate.

At one point the smoke was so heavy and the C02 levels so high firefighters had to take a break from fighting the fire in the basement, according to Flaherty.

Heavy fire was put out by 3:30 p.m., but there was still a lot of heat and smoke he said. Investigation into just what started the fire hadn't yet started, he said.

Fire officials said they didn't believe the fire had extended beyond Neena's. And at least one said they unofficially suspected the fire originated in a little kitchenette downstairs.

Out back, as firefighters took breaks from the heat of the fire they were met with the heat of the day. Trader Joe's employees brought them relief in the form of bottles of water. EMTs handed out wet towels for them to place on their necks and heads to help them cool down. Some stood in the shade of a tree or the shadow of the buildings to keep cool.

Traffic was being diverted down Harvard away from Beacon Street. Police alerted the public earlier in the afternoon to a traffic advisory: Watch for road closures in the area of Harvard Street, Longwood Avenue, St Paul Street and Stearns Road, they said.

The Post Office was still open, as was Trader Joe's. But Coolidge Corner Yoga, My Dentist, Trust Company were all closed.

Just before 4 p.m. firefighters were starting to clean up the area and roll up the hoses. Beacon Street didn't open until after 5 p.m.

The building owner, Raj Dhanda of Chestnut Hill Investments LLC is in the process of attempting to secure a 40B eligibility waiver to build a 10 story building. He was there was at the fire, but declined to comment.

The proposed building would have 74 rental residential units and two levels of retail and 99 parking spaces.

Last week Dhanda was before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a hearing. He's slated to come before them again in September.

Watch this space for updates

Apparently the smoke was visible from Boston

Yesterday in Brookline: Fire At Rainbow Sushi On Harvard St Disrupts Morning Commute

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Photos by Jenna Fisher, Patch