Free Republic

A 9-alarm blaze ripped through a brownstone building in Boston’s Back Bay “like a blowtorch” Wednesday, killing two firefighters and injuring more than a dozen others battling what officials described as one of the fastest-moving fires seen in decades. "We lost two heroes today," Mayor Marty Walsh said. "It's a sad day for the city of Boston.” Fire officials confirmed at a press conference Wednesday night that Lt. Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy died in the fire at 298 Beacon St. Thirteen other firefighters were injured. "Two great firefighters," said Rich Paris, president of the Boston firefighters' union. Walsh,...

The Boston Fire Department is currently battling a 9-alarm fire in the 200 block of Beacon Street in the Back Bay. At least five firefighters have been injured, according to The Boston Globe: Nick Martin, a Boston EMS spokesman, said two firefighters had been transported to Brigham and Women's Hospital, while three others were being evaluated at the scene. It wasn?t clear whether other firefighters might also be injured. Channel 7 reports: Source tells me 2 firefighters suffered 3rd degree burns, 1 went into cardiac arrest, and 1 was reported missing

Even as electricity flowed again Thursday to most power-starved pockets of the Back Bay, one of the city’s signature office towers remained dark for most of the day, and questions intensified about why NStar repeatedly changed its predictions for restoring power. The utility at one point insisted that nearly all 21,000 business and residential customers who lost power after a billowing transformer fire Tuesday had been reconnected. The one exception — and it was a big one — was the sprawling Prudential Center, which remained closed for much of the day and, in the process, disrupted the lives of about...

Residents, workers, and tourists in the Back Bay swapped stories of the blackout and tried to get back to their normal routines today, with varying degrees of success, in the wake of a transformer fire Tuesday that knocked out power to thousands in the area. Power was out in some businesses, but on in others. Businesses were closed on one block of Newbury Street, with signs posted in the windows, while in the next block, shops were open and cafes were serving food. Lovenia Thomas, 73, who lives on the 11th floor of a Dartmouth Street subsidized housing complex said...

They strike at night. While Back Bay sleeps, the vandals creep around the parked Volvos, Audis, and Lexus sport utility vehicles and toward the elegant brick buildings. In white, black, and neon-green paint, they leave their mark in the alleyways. By morning, when dwellers of this historic neighborhood wake up and head to their cars, they find out who has been on their property. Zorg, Utah, and Des are the names of graffiti vandals whose very mention causes residents around Newbury Street and Commonwealth Avenue to shudder. On Sept. 1, one of the neighborhood's biggest menaces -- Gonzo, whom police...