City officials Thursday cited the landlord of an Allston building that caught fire this week for running an illegal rooming house because he failed to get city approval to renovate the two-family into a multiunit building.

The four-alarm fire early Wednesday morning at 30-32 Myrick St. displaced at least 11 people, several of whom are college students, officials have said. One Boston firefighter suffered a back injury, but all residents were safely evacuated.

Inspectional Services Commissioner William Christopher met with the property owner, Li Guangde of West Roxbury, at the department's headquarters on Massachusetts Avenue Thursday where he was handed a civil citation for failure to "secure a long form permit to legalized occupancy'' for a two-family building.