A firefighter and an employee of East Coast Divers were injured in a fire that damaged the building at 213 Boylston St. on Thursday morning, according to a Brookline town spokesperson.
The Brookline Fire Department responded to a two-alarm fire at the location at around 10:20 a.m. on Thursday, according to communications officer Christina Metcalf.
The fire was upgraded to a three-alarm blaze and extinguished about an hour after firefighters first responded on scene.
“An East Coast Divers employee and Brookline Firefighter each suffered different, non-life-threatening injuries and were evaluated on scene,” Metcalf wrote in an email to Brookline.News.
Seven people who live in two apartments above the dive shop are temporarily displaced and the Red Cross was called in to provide support for them, according to Metcalf. Firefighters also rescued a cat.
The cause and origin of the fire are under investigation by the Brookline Fire Department and the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
Route 9 was closed in both directions for about an hour on Thursday morning. As of 12:56 p.m., one westbound lane remains closed and both eastbound lanes are open.
Fire crews from Boston, Cambridge and Newton provided mutual aid for the incident.
East Coast Divers, a decades-old local business, sells scuba equipment and offers diving trips and certifications. The company could not be reached for comment on Thursday afternoon.
According to Metcalf, a loud boom heard by residents during the incident was from the fire reaching compressed air tanks in the dive shop.
