A three-alarm fire ripped through a scuba diving shop on Route 9 in Brookline on May 28, 2026, igniting compressed air tanks and injuring one employee and one firefighter. The blaze started around 10:20 a.m. at East Coast Divers, 213 Boylston St., and sent crews scrambling as multiple canisters exploded inside the mixed-use building.
Firefighters brought the fire under control within an hour, but not before the flames forced an evacuation of the people living above the shop. Brookline Fire said the upstairs residents got out quickly, and all of them were displaced after the fire. One cat was also rescued from the second floor.
One worker suffered minor burn injuries, while a firefighter was cut by a laceration while attacking the blaze. The fire shut down Route 9 temporarily before the road reopened later in the day. National Grid disconnected power to the building after the incident.
The shop sits on the first floor of a building with two apartments above it, and five residents were in town when the fire broke out while two were away. Mike Williams said he and others banged on doors to get people out of the upstairs apartments quickly. John Sullivan said crews managed to save the cat from the second floor, though it was not happy when it was returned to its owner.
The fire started in the back area of the shop, but investigators have not yet determined what set it off. The State Fire Marshal's Office and the Brookline Fire Department are looking into the cause.
The timing could hardly have been worse for East Coast Divers. Williams said the shop is just entering its busiest stretch of the year, and its season lasts only about three months, making the shutdown especially painful. Within hours of the fire, a customer started an online fundraiser that raised more than $2,000, a small sign of support for a business facing its busiest season with its doors closed.
