Early video: Man brought down from roof of burning Portland, Maine apartment building. Two others hurt, including woman rescued by a neighbor.

Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit "like")

Two residents of a Portland, Maine apartment building were hospitalized following a fire yesterday afternoon. One of those people was rescued by a neighbor from the first floor apartment where the fire started.

A man, who was uninjured, came down by ladder raised by firefighters after he escaped to the roof from his top floor unit.

From Kelley Bouchard at The Portland Press Herald:

Smoke alarms went off and tenants reported the fire around 3 p.m. in the 13-unit historic brick house at 264 State St., said Deputy Fire Chief Robert Wassick.

The blaze started in a first-floor apartment, where fire, smoke and water damage was severe, Wassick said. The cause is under investigation.

From Casey Conley at The Portland Daily Sun:

Francois Agwala, who lives on the third floor, said he smelled something burning in his building but never saw any flames. He took refuge from the smoke on a small balcony on the third floor, and that’s where firefighters found him when they arrived.

Wassick said firefighters made contact with Agwala and eventually helped bring him down on a ladder.

“There was a lot of smoke coming out of the third floor,” Wassick said.

From Krister Rollins at WLBZ-TV:

One of the tenants says she smelled smoke in the hallway and new it was coming from her neighbor's kitchen.

"My boyfriend busted the door in and dragged her out of the apartment and called the fire department," says Ronica Leland.

The woman in the apartment was unconscious.

She was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com. 

Also on STATter911 …

• Raw video: Apartment fire in Wichita, Kansas. Tenant who accidentally starts fire makes bad situation worse. – April 21, 2011
• Must see video: Portland, OR firefighter falls through roof on live TV. – May 17, 2012
• Early raw video: Side C truck work at three-alarm Prince George’s County, MD apartment fire. – October 13, 2011
• Early video: Rochester, New York structure fire. – April 3, 2012