4-Alarm Brighton Fire Leaves 1 Dead, 9 Injured

An early morning fire sparked by an electrical problem at a Brighton triple-decker has left one person dead and nine others injured, including five firefighters.

The Boston Fire Department says the victim was one of 14 family members living in the top floor and attic apartment at 105 Murdock Street and may have re-entered the building to help others get out.

Boston Fire Chief Joseph Finn said during a press conference it appeared everyone was accounted for after primary search of the building, but a language barrier made it hard for firefighters to be sure. The victim was found in the basement during a secondary search.

The blaze, which investigators say was caused by an electrical short circuit in a first-floor kitchen, started at about 7:30 a.m. and spread to the roof and the building next door, causing an estimated $850,000 in damage to the two homes.

About 22 people lived in the three-family house which the fire department said was not student housing. Not all of them were home at the time.

With reporting by The Associated Press and the WBUR Newsroom