A mayday was ordered after a firefighter became trapped on the roof of a burning building in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon.
Boston Fire said they responded to a reported fire in a 2-1/2 story building in the 200 block of Normandy Street around 2:45 p.m. and found heavy smoke and fire. Additional resources were called in, and the fire burned through the roof.
Witnesses tell us the fire was raging when firefighters arrived. The fire department says one woman lives in the home and she got out on her own.
Three firefighters were taken to the hospital mostly for heat-related issues.
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The fire department shared video from the scene, which showed heavy flames and smoke. The fire seemed to be coming from the second floor but spread to the third floor and roof.
At approximately 2:45 heavy smoke and fire in an occupied 2 and 1/2 story building at 258 Normandy st. A second alarm has been the fire has burned through the roof pic.twitter.com/Jq1S9Q9ALu
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) June 5, 2024
At one point, fire officials said a mayday was ordered for a firefighter who was temporarily trapped on the roof by the heavy flames. The firefighter was ultimately able to exit safely by a ladder from a fire truck.
Firefighters were dealing with hoarding conditions inside, which made it difficult for firefighters to move around.
"We had to move very slowly because of the hoarding condition," Deputy Chief Brian Tully said. "We were going inch to inch basically removing debris."
Besides the hoarding issues, firefighters say it was very hot out, and it's a densely packed neighborhood, so it wasn't an easy day.
"The flames were coming out the side window, and it was just coming out, it was coming coming coming. And I knew something was wrong," Dorchester resident Christopher Ochs said.
Investigators are trying to figure out what started the fire. Further details were not immediately available.
