Flames tore through the third floor of a three-family home on Robert Road in Cambridge on Thursday, forcing nine residents and two dogs out of the building before firefighters brought the blaze under control in just over an hour. Cambridge firefighters arrived to find fire showing from the upper floor of the residence, prompting a quick escalation to a second alarm as crews worked to keep the flames from spreading further through the structure.
According to a post from the Cambridge MA Fire Department on Facebook, Cambridge Emergency Communications received the initial reports of a building fire on Robert Road and helped coordinate the response alongside the Cambridge Police Department. Acting Deputy Chief Joseph Fournier commanded the operation, which firefighters contained before it could spread beyond the third floor. The department's account credits crews with bringing the incident under control in just over an hour.
Because the fire quickly grew to a second alarm, Cambridge called on neighboring departments for reinforcements. Somerville, Brookline, Arlington, and Belmont fire departments all sent units to assist, joining Cambridge crews on scene as they worked to knock down the flames and check for extension into other parts of the building.
Regional Mutual Aid Kicks Into Gear
The cross-border response reflects how tightly the region's fire departments are linked. Cambridge is a member of MetroFire, or Metro Boston Fire District 13, a mutual aid network that unites 34 Greater Boston cities and towns to share apparatus, specialized rescue gear, and personnel during multi-alarm emergencies, according to the City of Cambridge. That kind of cooperation isn't rare — Cambridge firefighters themselves provided mutual aid to neighboring departments 248 times in 2025, per the city's own account of departmental operations.
Additional support came from Professional Ambulance and the Boston Sparks Association, an all-volunteer nonprofit founded in 1938 that deploys a dedicated rehab and canteen unit to multi-alarm fires across 35 metro Boston communities. Per the Boston Sparks Association, the group's canteen trucks are pre-stocked with hydration and rehab supplies for firefighters working extended operations, a role the organization filled on scene at Robert Road.
Displaced Residents Turn to Red Cross Assistance
Nine occupants and two dogs were displaced by the fire, and the Cambridge Fire Department's Office of Emergency Preparedness and the American Red Cross both stepped in to assist them. The Red Cross of Massachusetts responds to thousands of residential disasters annually across all 351 Commonwealth municipalities, offering emergency housing vouchers, food, clothing, and casework for displaced residents. Cambridge Inspectional Services also assisted with the incident response, though the dossier does not specify what findings, if any, that review has produced regarding the building's condition.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Cambridge Fire Investigation Unit, which operates around the clock to determine the origin and cause of major or suspicious fires in coordination with the Cambridge Police Department and the Massachusetts State Fire Marshal. Established in 1979, the unit also oversees youth fire safety education and arson enforcement across the city.
Why Older Triple-Deckers Remain Vulnerable
Fires like the one on Robert Road underscore a persistent risk in Greater Boston's housing stock. Under the Massachusetts State Building Code, automatic fire sprinkler systems are permitted in three-family dwellings under four stories, but statewide mandates for automatic sprinklers generally apply only to commercial buildings over 7,500 square feet or high-rises over 70 feet. Many older multi-family residences in the region predate modern residential sprinkler requirements, leaving structures like triple-deckers without built-in suppression systems that can slow a fire's spread on upper floors.
The response drew on a large share of Cambridge's firefighting force. The department is led by Acting Chief Thomas F. Cahill Jr. and fields 270 sworn firefighters and six civilian staff across eight firehouses, with eight engine companies, four ladder companies, and two BLS rescue ambulances. In 2025 alone, the department responded to 16,636 emergency incidents citywide, including 45 building fires, according to the City of Cambridge. The Robert Road blaze came just days after the department promoted four members — Stephen M. Ryan Jr., Douglas A. Boudrow, Joseph M. Moore, and Cal Collar — to the rank of lieutenant, keeping frontline supervisory ranks staffed heading into the incident.
The fire is the latest in a string of multi-alarm residential blazes Cambridge crews have battled over the past year and a half, including a two-alarm attic fire on Francis Avenue that also required outside mutual aid. No information on injuries, the fire's cause, or the extent of structural damage to the Robert Road property has been released, and those details remain open questions pending further review by investigators.
