Sunday morning truck fire at Broadway Brake Company, 45 Broadway. – Photo courtesy of Somerville Fire Department.

Somerville firefighters were kept busy over the weekend with two fires on lower Broadway. On Saturday morning at 5:53 a.m. , September 29, fire broke out in a second floor apartment at 16 Broadway above the Mount Vernon Restaurant. The fire was confined to apartment #6 and activated the buildings sprinkler system. The fire appears to have originated in a waste basket and spread to a wall and cabinets. Sprinklers controlled the fire and arriving firefighters completed the extinguishment which required opening up a wall to check for fire spread. The  occupant of the apartment was not at home at the time of the fire. The fire resulted in damage estimated to be in the area of $15,000. The cause of the fire is believed to be careless disposal of smoking materials. Firefighters cleared the scene by 7:25 a.m.

Truck fire spreads to nearby trash container at 45 Broadway. – Photo courtesy of Somerville Fire Department.

On Sunday morning, September 30 at 4:37 a.m. fire was reported at the Broadway Brake Company located at 45 Broadway. Arriving firefighters found a truck parked against the building which was fully engulfed and had spread to a nearby trash container. Firefighters were successful in preventing fire spread into the building although some minor damage did occur to the structure. The cause of this fire remains under investigation by the Somerville Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit (FIU). Firefighters were clear of the scene by 5:50 a.m.~Deputy Fire Chief Charles Breen