Ed. note: I'm still not 100% convinced this is not a left-over April Fool's joke. But I learned about it through an ad in my Facebook news feed last night, and who actually spends money on a prank?
Bridj says it's getting up to launch an alternative to the T that will feature limo buses with plush seats, "an attendant who can provide you with a curated selection of snacks and beverages" and fees you might be able to deduct from your taxes.
Photo by Stefanie Rocknak.
The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston says it's raised enough money for a statue of Edgar Allan Poe - and a giant raven - at Boylston Street and Charles Street South, and will unveil it at 2 p.m. on Oct. 5.
The foundation needed $225,000 to pay for Stefanie Rocknak's statue and upkeep. It reports a $10,000 grant from the Lynch Foundation got it over the top - which means foundation officials no longer have to worry they will just rue plans sitting in a morgue somewhere.
Bit of unwanted excitement in Copley Square shortly after 5 p.m., when somebody discovered a backpack just sitting there on St. James in front of Trinity Church.
Police taped off the area to await the arrival of the bomb squad, which soon after determined the backpack was, in fact, just a backpack.
Adrienne reports spotting this fox in a yard on the outbound side of Comm. Ave. near Mass. Ave. this morning.
For the record I did not ask it ANYTHING.
Brian D'Amico paused outside the Engine 33/Ladder 15 fire house on Boylston Street today.
Copyright Brian D'Amico. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Veteran Boston photojournalist Stanley Forman was on the way home from a workday that had started at 3:30 a.m. when he heard a call for somebody trapped on a fourth-floor balcony. He recounts what happened next - including listening to what he said was the worst fire radio call he'd ever heard.
Cone Communications has set up a new fundraising effort to support the Walsh Kennedy Memorial Fund:
33 to 33 is a call-to-action to honor the memory of Lieutenant Walsh and Firefighter Kennedy's service with Engine 33 through a simple act of giving in cooperation with the Boston Firefighter’s Union.
Bostonians and others can donate $33 to the Walsh Kennedy Memorial Fund, established by the Boston Firefighter’s Union to benefit the families of both fallen heroes.
They answered the call. Now it’s our time to respond. 33 to 33.
Evolving Critic closely examines a Lego model of the central library, on display through April 5 - inside the library itself (hmm, wonder if there could be a smaller model of the model library inside the model library ...)
Police and firefighters lined the roads from Albany Street in the South End to Centre Street in West Roxbury yesterday evening as Firefighter Michael Kennedy's body was transported from the medical examiner's office to the P.E. Murray Funeral Home.
In Jamaica Plain, meanwhile, residents had an informal memorial at the Monument, where they left a board and pens for people to say farewell.
Brian D'Amico watched Berklee students remember the two fallen firefighters today at the Boylston Street firehouse.
The Boston Firefighters Credit Union has set up a fund and is accepting checks at:
Lieutenant Walsh - Firefighter Kennedy Memorial Fund
Boston Firefighters Credit Union
60 Hallet St.
Dorchester, MA 02124
Boston and federal officials are opening investigations into the fatal 298 Beacon St. fire that could take months to complete.
"It's still too early to determine just what happened," BFD spokesman Steve MacDonald said this morning.
He said the department will convene a board of inquiry consisting of chiefs who did not respond to the fire to conduct an investigation. NIOSH, a federal agency, will also investigate, he said.
Judd Weiskopf was on Beacon Street when the first fire trucks arrived at 298 Beacon - including Ladder 24 from Cambridge Street - as well as Engine 33 and Ladder 15 from Boylston Street.
His series of photos, taken between 2:48 and 3:07 p.m., show the smoke intensifying rapidly - they would culminate in a wind-blown conflagration that claimed the lives of two firefighters.
Paul Weiskel photographed firefighters on Beacon Street yesterday.
This morning, firefighters draped black bunting on the Boylston Street firehouse.
Brian D'Amico was on scene at yesterday's fatal Beacon Street fire. As he took photos from the Storrow Drive side of the building, he turned to see this sunset.
Copyright Brian D'Amico. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.
Lt. Ed Walsh of Engine 33 and firefighter Michael Kennedy of Ladder 15 died this afternoon in the basement of a Beacon Street building they had rushed into to help save residents trapped on topped floors, fire officials said at a press conference tonight.
"It's a sad day for the city of Boston," Mayor Walsh said. "We lost 2 heroes here today."
Mediacrity reports that around 7:20 p.m., firefighters from Cambridge Ladder 1 lowered the flag outside the Engine 33/Ladder 15 firehouse on Boylston Street to half staff.
Photo by BFD.
UPDATE: WBZ reports two of the firefighters have died.
298 Beacon St. Nine alarms. Firefighters from Engine 33 were trapped without water. Three taken out with injuries, one in critical condition.
Prosecutors from the Suffolk County District Attorney's office are now on scene, standard procedure when a victim has life-threatening injuries. Read more.
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