WORCESTER, Mass. — A firefighter was killed and another seriously injured when a wall collapsed during an apartment fire in Worcester, Mass., Thursday morning.
The fire broke out at about 4 a.m. in a three-story complex in the Vernon Hill area of the city.
Fire Chief Gerard Dio said crews entered the building after receiving a report that one resident was still inside, according to The Boston Globe.
“One of the occupants said his friend was still up there, so two crews went up to do a secondary search for the individual and there was a structural collapse, and at that time two firefighters were trapped,” Chief Dio said.
Firefighter John Davies, a 17-year veteran of the department, was rushed to the hospital but later pronounced dead.
The second firefighter, Brian Carroll, was said to be in a stable condition at the hospital. Both were reportedly trapped for an hour when the wall collapsed.
“It is a truly sad day for our neighborhood,” neighborhood activist Mullen Sawyer told The Boston Herald.
“We’re just horrified that somebody trying to help has been harmed in the process.”
The death comes nearly 12 years to the day that six firefighters were killed in the Worcester Cold Storage warehouse fire.
Thursday’s fire happened in an area that has been plagued by recent arsons, according to reports.
Area resident Stephanie Laythe told The Boston Globe the fire lit up the sky.
“It was blazing and the wind was pushing the fire... you could see the building tilting and everything just fell,” she said.