Collapse of triple-decker moments after evacuation. Watch the video from Everett, Massachusetts. Deputy chief rescues four from third floor.
Some tense moment in Everett, Massachusetts after fire in a vacant triple-decker spread to the occupied building next door. Deputy Chief John Berghello and his driver were the first to the scene on Broadway. Here are excerpts from WBZ-TV’s story:
A family of four was trapped on the third floor of the occupied home.
“They might have been disoriented from the smoke,” Berghello told WBZ Radio.
He ran up and saved the three adults and a ten-year-old.
A short time later, the abandoned building collapsed.
Firefighters were inside the building just moments before it came down.
They were able to escape because a veteran firefighter heard “a loud crack,” according to deputy fire chief Bill Humphries.
“So he ordered his crew out. I would say within 20 – 30 seconds after that the collapse happened. They were lucky,” Humphries told WBZ’s Sera Congi.
