Firefighters rescue 2 from burning apartment
Fast-acting Norwood firefighters are being credited with saving the lives of two people who were pulled from the second floor of a burning apartment early yesterday morning, fire officials said.
Firefighters, responding to a reported structure fire about 2:47 a.m. at a Northwest Drive apartment complex, forced their way into the home and were met with “heavy smoke with zero visibility throughout the apartment,” Norwood fire Capt. George Morrice said.
As the first firefighters on scene worked to extinguish a blaze that was raging in the kitchen, Ladder Company members conducting a search of the second floor found two unconscious people in the living room and pulled them onto the front lawn, where they were successfully revived by paramedics.
One of the victims was rushed by ambulance to Norwood Hospital, where the person was stabilized and MedFlighted to Mass General in Boston. The second victim was transported directly to Mass General. Both were listed in serious but stable condition yesterday, Morrice said.
“It was just a great job by firefighters, paramedics and EMTs that were on the scene,” Morrice told the Herald. “Everyone worked together as a team with a concerted effort to extinguish the fire and then locate and revive the people that lived in the apartment.”
The names of the victims were not released last night.
Norwood fire officials and representatives of the State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating the cause of the fire, which caused an estimated $75,000 in damage.
Members of the Walpole and Westwood fire departments assisted at the scene.