Police: Boston 6-alarm fire started after blast

BOSTON?? A 6-alarm fire that police said may have been started by a resident injured about a dozen people and prompted dramatic rescues by firefighters.

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The six-alarm blaze broke out early Monday in the large building on Wardman Road in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.

A man who showed up at Boston Medical Center with burns told officials there that he had tried to blow up his own home, police officials told reporters at the scene.

Residents who escaped the blaze said they heard an explosion in the building at about 1 a.m.

Firefighters reportedly rescued several people from the building, including at least one young child.

Third-floor residents Herbert and Judith Lamb lived on the third-floor and said they heard a "loud explosion," followed by smoke quickly filling the building.

The Lambs broke a window in the apartment and dropped their 6-year-old grandson into the arms of waiting Boston firefighters.

"I had to drop him out the window," Judith Lamb told The Boston Globe (http://bo.st/qBIQcQ). "The firemen caught him."

Boston Fire Lieutenant Glenn McGillivray told the newspaper he was the one who caught the child.

"I knew she wouldn't be able to hold him until we got help, so they dropped him, and I caught him in my arms from the third floor," McGillivray said. "Then we got a ladder over to get the woman out."

"Thank God I caught him. I've never had to do that before, and I hope I never have to do it again," McGillivray said.

About a dozen people were taken to area hospitals, including two firefighters who sustained minor injuries. In all, more than three dozen apartments were damaged or destroyed, officials said.

Firefighters said later Monday morning that they had accounted for all residents in the building.

Police did not immediately identify the resident who said he started the fire, but the man was expected to face charges, including arson.

Firefighters were still pouring water on the building several hours after it started.

A temporary shelter had been set up in the city for residents displaced by the blaze.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44926829/ns/us_news/

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