Porch Fire at Central Street Group Home Shuts Down Medford ...

The Somerville Fire Department quickly put out a porch fire at 155 Central Street Monday afternoon.

The fire struck the second-floor porch and was possibly caused by "disgarding of smoking material," said District Chief John Miller of the Somerville Fire Department.

The incident shut down the intersection of Medford and Central streets for approximately 40 minutes. According to fire department scanner transmissions monitored on behalf of Somerville Patch, the fire department was called to the scene a little after 2 p.m. By 2:45 p.m. traffic was flowing through the intersection again.

The building is a mental health group home run by Vinfen, a nonprofit organization that provides services to adults and children with "mental illness, developmental disabilities, and behavioral health disabilities," according to its website.

Kevin White, an employee at the group home, said about 12 people live there and no one was hurt in the incident.

Miller said none of the residents will be displaced because the fire damage was restricted to the back porch. "They'll be able to live there," he said.

This isn't the first time a fire has started at the home. According to the Boston Globe, an electrical fire on Aug. 19, 2008, closed the home for nearly seven months. At the time, neighbors had been complaining that some of the residnets were disruptive, and one neighbor told the Globe, "it seemed like 'smoking was their sole activity.'"

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