A large fire ripped through a historic building Monday night near the Boston Common.
The fire occurred at about 10:45 p.m. on Stuart Street, the Boston Fire Department said. Part of that street remains shut down as crews remain on scene investigating the four-alarm fire.
The building was vacant and is under construction.
It was home to the Jacob Wirth Restaurant — an official Boston landmark that had been the city's second oldest continuously operating restaurant since 1868.
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A fire in an upstairs apartment in 2018 had left the old German beer hall vacant, but in 2023, Royale Entertainment Group had begun construction to reopen the historic venue.
Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke says although the fire was tricky to attack, the water supply was good, the fire walls held and it helped that they knew the building was vacant.
"When the firefighters arrived, there was fire on all three floors. It was heavy fire. The chief went to a fourth-alarm right away, they went in the building initially to do an internal attack, and they had to pull them out because the fire was so intense. And they went to outside streams, they brought it from the outside," said Burke.
The building to the right of it is also vacant, but the building to the left is a 30-story residential building.
Burke says everyone there was able to get out on their own and went to the nearby W Hotel.
The cause and origin of this fire remains under investigation.
