Article: [2] Dangerous illegal rooming houses thriving in Hub.(News)

They are among Boston's most dangerous places to live, with overcrowded rooms, darkened hallways and lockless front doors.

Usually, they lack air conditioning and proper ventilation. Sometimes, electrical work is shoddy, sparking the ever-present danger of fire. Occasionally, exits are blocked, leaving no way out when flames do erupt.

The Wednesday morning death of 62-year-old Frederick Humphrey in a South End fire illustrates just how perilous the city's illegal rooming houses can be, but housing advocates say such quarters are flourishing like never before.

In boomtown Boston, where widespread gentrification has turned the flophouses of the ...

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