An organization that tracks white supremacists and other far-right extremists says its annual count of “hate groups” has reached the highest level in more than two decades. The Southern Poverty Law Center says the 1,020 hate groups it counted in 2018 is the most since 2011 and the highest number since it broadened its survey of such groups in the 1990s. Heidi Beirich is director of the law center’s Intelligence Project. She says the count reflects an “enlivened American hate movement” that has been growing for the past four years.
Three boats were destroyed in a Tuesday night blaze and two sunk as a result in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood.
As many as 50 firefighters responded to the fire off Constitution Road before midnight. The blaze started in a large vessel and spread to two others, officials said.
Authorities said a person was living in one of the boats and a woman who was on the larger vessel was able to escape the blaze unharmed.
Fire crews battled the flames from the dock while others used foam on the water.
Boston Fire Department Deputy Chief, Robert Calobrisi, said the fire was stubborn due to something that may have kept feeding the blaze.
"I've got to believe there was some diesel fuel onboard one of the larger boats that kept stoking the fire," he said. "It took a while to extinguish, actually. Luckily there was not much of a wind tonight. Otherwise, it could have been a lot worse."
Officials estimate the blaze cost as much as $1 million in damages. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
