Photo: The house at 50-52 Grove St. that suffered severe damage in a fire, Sunday night, Feb. 26.

A late night house fire that spread quickly from the basement to the ceiling severely damaged a two-family at the corner of Grove Street and Unity Avenue on Sunday, Feb. 26.

“Everybody got out safe,” said Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell at the scene of the fire located at 50-52 Grove St.

Frizzell said a resident called 911 to report a fire in the basement of the circa 1900 rental property just after 10 p.m. When fire equipment arrived minutes after the call, the flames had shot up to the attic via the pipe chase which is a vertical space enclosed by a false wall for the purpose of hiding pipes.

As firefighters were removing ceilings and walls to hunt out any hidden fires, one of the occupants of the building stood looking in the company of a friend. 

The structure, which housed a pair of five room, two bed and a bath rental units, suffered from water and smoke damage as well as flame damage to the chase.

Firefighters battled the flames and thick smoke, using Cambridge Fire Department’s ladder truck to reach the second floor.

Crews from Arlington, Waltham and Cambridge were at the scene assisting Belmont with Winchester and Somerville equipment staffing Belmont’s fire stations, said Frizzell.

Traffic along the busy roadway that borders Cambridge was halted and detoured onto local streets  for several hours. 

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