Photo by Steve MacDonald/Boston Fire Department Firefighters battle the Oct. 30 blaze at 37-39 Calumet St.
Lint build-up in a clothes dryer sparked a five-alarm fire that displaced dozens of people from 37-39 Calumet St. on Oct. 30.
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) “stepp[ed] up big time” to help the residents, according to the Boston Fire Department (BFD).
MCPHS opened up President Charles Monahan Jr.’s residence at 700 Huntington Ave. as a shelter and BFD command post shortly after the 12:45 a.m. fire.
MCPHS’s food service, Chartwells, provided refreshments to residents and firefighters. The college and members of its Phi Delta Chi student fraternity helped residents move belongings out of the homes.
According to MCPHS, the displaced residents included about a dozen students from the college as well as from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Harvard School of Public Health, Northeastern University, Simmons College and the Wentworth Institute of Technology.
A large number of Wait Street residents also were displaced when water from firehoses poured down the hill into their homes, according to BFD.