Massachusetts

Firefighter rescues 3-year-old girl from burning building

The cause of the fire remains under investigation

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Firefighters responded to a blaze in Everett, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning.

The fire was reported around 8 a.m. in a 3-story building at Hancock and Tappan streets. Heavy smoke was pouring from the building when firefighters arrived at the scene.

A firefighter rescued a 3-year-old girl from the third floor of the building. The child was taken to Boston Children's Hospital and the firefighter was also transported to an area hospital. Both are expected to be OK.

A child was rescued from a triple-decker fire Wednesday morning. Video of the scene shows smoke surfacing from the roof of the building. A bystander says at least 10 people were seen rushing out of this multi-family home to safety when fire crews showed up. The flames are all put out now, but neighbors were left pondering their next move.

Fire officials said a mayday was initially called, but was terminated soon after when the firefighter was able to get out of the building with the child.

Two Everett public works employees were the first to see the smoke and called in the fire and then ran into the building and helped evacuate residents and told firefighters about the child on the third floor.

"We were driving by, and I smelled something. I said, 'Stop the truck,'" said one of the public works employees. "Kicking doors. Make sure everyone was gone. When we ran up to the third floor, there was too much fire."

Aerial footage showed about a half dozen fire and emergency vehicles at the scene. Several firefighters were on the roof of the building.

Firefighters were still on scene on Wednesday morning extinguishing hot spots. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, though fire officials say they do not believe it was started suspiciously.

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