BOSTON -- A four-alarm fire destroyed two triple-decker apartment houses in East Boston Tuesday, leaving a number of people homeless.

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Jorge Quiroga Reports On Blaze

NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that smoke could be seen billowing from the blaze at 167 Chelsea St. The fire broke out about 6:30 a.m. in the back of the building. There were vacant businesses on the ground floor as well.

"I got my son up for school, and I went back to bed and a few minutes later, they were knocking on my door telling me there was a fire in the yard," resident Gino Castiello said.

Castiello said that it took about five minutes for the fire under the rear porch to spread through his three-story home. Castiello, his wife, three children and a grandchild made it out to the street as the fire spread to other buildings.

Fortunately, all of the apartments there were vacant. Two businesses on the ground floor were gutted. An adjacent home sustained heavy smoke and water damage.

"Given the time of morning, the fire did have headway before it was discovered, before it was spotted from the outside," Boston Fire Department Commissioner Paul Christian said.

Castiello said that a baseboard heater that was in the family's doghouse might have sparked the blaze.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries in the fire.