Malden firefighters battled 4-alarm blaze on Ferry Street Wednesday

Mutual aid crews from Everett, Revere, Saugus and five other communities on scene at inferno, which destroyed a 4-family home

By Steve Freker

As early evening arrived, a large American Flag fluttered along a trellis on the front porch, most likely an ode to just-passed Memorial Day. There did not seem to be much else left intact on Wednesday after a four-alarm fire ripped through a multi-family residence on Ferry Street in the late afternoon hours.

Malden firefighters battled the blaze, which initially sent flames shooting out the top of the roof plus clouds of billowing smoke, beginning about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The fire appeared to have destroyed most of the edifice at 206 Ferry St., which is one of the biggest residential buildings on the Malden side of the long street, this one located on the south corner of the intersection with Holyoke Street.

Initially, there have been no reports of anyone injured at the fire scene — residents or firefighters — though a couple of firefighters were seen being attended to by EMT personnel there around 7:30 p.m., four hours after the blaze was reported. One cat was rescued by Malden firefighters at the scene, while one resident claimed his cat was lost in the fire.

Mutual aid firefighting apparatus and crews from many surrounding communities were on hand to assist in both firefighting operations and other valuable on-site duties. Everett, Revere and Saugus firefighters were on hand to assist, as were crews from Medford, Somerville, Stoneham, Melrose and Chelsea, among others.

The cause of the fire was unknown as of early Wednesday evening, though an unconfirmed report was that it may have been electrical in nature.

Malden Police blocked off both ends of Ferry Street from through travel as firefighters battled the blaze: at Eastern Avenue extension and also at Cross Street beside the Ferryway K-8 School.