The childhood home of Mark Wahlberg and his family was heavily damaged after a fire broke out Sunday morning and spread to three nearby triple-deckers in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.
The Boston Fire Department said the heavy fire started in the back of a triple-decker and was pushed by wind to several buildings in the area. The blaze started at 25 Peverell Street, where the Wahlbergs used to live, and spread to homes on Cushion Avenue, as well.
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Arthur Wahlberg, the oldest of the Wahlberg brothers, confirmed to NBC10 Boston the family grew up in the Peverell Street home.
“My phone was blowing up with text messages about it,” he added.
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A total of 15 people were displaced. Two people with minor injuries were taken to the hospital as countless crews worked to battle the flames, according to Boston EMS. The fire department later said a total of three people were hurt, with minor injuries: one civilian and two firefighters.
The fire caused about $2 million in damages across the four buildings, firefighters said. The home with the most notable damage was the former Wahlberg home.
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“I went out to our back deck and there were flames coming out of the bottom unit so I called 911 and got out of there as quickly as we could,” said Courtney Sweeney whose home was next to the fire on Cushion Ave.
That call led to more than 120 firefighters arriving at the smoky scene shortly after 10 a.m. to battle both flames and wind, as Sunday was quite windy with the remnants of Hurricane Ian passing through New England.
“With rear porches and the proximity to the buildings, the wind was a huge factor it pushed the flames and the heat to other buildings and the sidings of the buildings,” noted Boston District Fire Chief Jonathan Rodriguez.
Their efforts helped keep the fire from spreading any further, Sweeney believes. It allowed affected residents to evacuate their homes with whatever belongings they could salvage.
Sweeney was one of the lucky ones.
“I’m so thankful for the firefighters that came because I think that if they had come any later we may have been worse off,” she said.
The Boston Fire Department shared several images as crews battled the blaze from the ground and the roofs of buildings.
What wasn’t able to be salvaged was the old Wahlberg home, where the youngest four children out of nine lived with their mother for about a decade in the 80s, including Donnie and Mark, who are known for their careers in music and film, respectively.
Mark Wahlberg visited the Peverell Street home, where the family moved after his parents divorced, during the production of his Netflix movie “Wonderland” in 2018 and 2019. In one video posted to his Instagram account, the actor stands shirtless in front of the house, describing it as “where it all started.”
“There were a few good memories and a few tough memories,” said Wahlberg, who never lived at the home but recalled how his late mother loved living so close to the hospital where she worked, and being cared for by her.
“I stayed with mom for a little while when I had broken my ankle. So, we had a little more bonding time,” he said.
There was no immediate word on the cause of Sunday's fire. An investigation is ongoing.
