A burning electric skateboard touched off a fire in a basement apartment at the Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center, injuring one building occupant and one firefighter and displacing residents from the Somerville facility. Crews responded around 9:35 p.m. last Thursday to 2 North Street, where the Somerville Fire Department traced the flames to a lithium-ion battery powering the skateboard.
Fire officials described the injuries as minor, according to Boston.com, though the blaze left the basement with fire, smoke, and water damage and left the rest of the facility with smoke damage throughout. Gas service to the building was shut off the night of the fire, and the Somerville Fire Department has not clarified exactly how many residents were displaced.
Residents Describe Confusion Over Hotel Placements
Resident Jacob Shaps told the outlet that roughly 30 residents were relocated to a Holiday Inn in Somerville, but he said he and others living upstairs were not offered that same accommodation. Shaps described sleeping through the following day while smoke still lingered as terrifying, according to the same report. The Massachusetts Bay Veterans Center did not respond to a request for comment as of last Sunday, the outlet noted.
The center, which opened in 2014 as the flagship facility for nonprofit operator Volunteers of America Massachusetts, combines transitional and permanent housing with on-site clinical and employment assistance. According to the City of Somerville, the building holds 22 transitional housing units and 7 permanent housing units reserved for veterans requiring supportive services. The city and VOAMASS have maintained an official municipal partnership since 2012 to coordinate emergency housing and services for homeless veterans, a collaboration CommonWealth Beacon has described as central to Somerville's strategy for preventing veteran homelessness.
City Agencies Coordinate Habitability Checks
Beyond the initial firefighting effort, Somerville Emergency Management, Inspectional Services, and the Board of Health all responded to evaluate the building's habitability and coordinate assistance for displaced residents, per Patch. Inspectional services and health officials typically must verify structural and utility safety before residents can return to a damaged building, the outlet reported. The facility is funded in part through federal block grants, including HUD Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds administered through Somerville's municipal entitlement allocations, according to city planning documents.
A Record Month for Battery Fires Statewide
The Somerville fire lands amid a sharp statewide spike in lithium-ion battery incidents. Massachusetts fire departments reported 22 such fires in September alone, the highest single-month total on record in the state and double the figure logged in September of last year, according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services. The state's tracking tool previously recorded 128 lithium-ion battery fires across Massachusetts in 2024, resulting in 13 civilian injuries.
State fire officials warn that lithium-ion batteries can undergo thermal runaway, generating toxic gases and temperatures exceeding 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit that render ordinary water streams and home extinguishers largely ineffective. That volatility is why the department's safety advisories urge residents to store electric scooters and e-bikes outdoors when possible and to keep indoor battery devices away from doors, windows, and exit stairways. State fire protocols also require building owners to hire certified hazardous waste contractors, or seek help from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, to safely clear damaged battery debris before repairs can begin.
Greater Boston fire departments lean on regional mutual aid through Metro Boston Fire District 13, a 34-community network that lets Somerville quickly call in extra engines, ladder trucks, and specialized equipment during major incidents. The Somerville blaze also follows a string of serious structure fires in the city this month, including a five-alarm fire that tore through a Teele Square building and a second fire in two weeks that hit a Broadway restaurant and bank. The timeline for restoring gas service and allowing residents to return to the 29 housing units at the veterans center remains unclear.
