Fire Strikes Hancock Street Home Outside Porter Square

A three-family house on Hancock Street, near Porter Square, caught on fire early Tuesday morning and appears to have displaced residents throughout the building, although information about displacements is not confirmed.

According to Somerville Fire Department scanner transmissions, monitored on behalf of Somerville Patch, the fire struck 45 Hancock street a little before 12:45 a.m.

One nearby resident, who asked not to be named, said she saw firefighters and police responding to the scene, using hoses to spray down the building.

Today, the front of the home shows significant fire damage, and windows on all floors have been broken out. Shards of glass and charred debris litter the front yard and sidewalk, and burned baby strollers sit in ashes on the front deck. Based on the extent of the damage, it appears none of the apartments in the building are habitable.

The American Red Cross did not respond to the fire, according to a spokesperson for the organization, indicating the building's residents did not need assistance finding a place to stay in the middle of the night.

Somerville Patch has contacted the Somerville Fire Department but has not heard back at the time of this posting. We will update this story when more information becomes available.

Tuesday afternoon, a worker for restoration company at the scene indicated the fire started on the front porch and then spread into the stairwell of the home. 

A neighbor said he was shocked to see the significant damage when he walked by this morning because he wasn't woken up by the sound of sirens or commotion.