WESTBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A couple forced out of their home after a fire in Westboro over the weekend are now sharing their story of escape – and how they ended up rescued from their roof.
Thomas Cardinale and his girlfriend were asleep in their third floor apartment just before 2 a.m. on Sunday when they were woken by the sound of smoke alarms.
“It just happened so fast,” Cardinale said. “We got out of bed, opened up our door, saw some smoke. So started scurrying to get what we thought we needed to get dressed and so on.”
The fire consumed a building in Westboro home to a restaurant and Cardinale’s apartment. The building was declared a total loss.
Cardinale said the flames spread fast and he and his girlfriend were forced to make a quick decision.
“There was way too much smoke, we couldn’t even see down the stairs,” he said. “We got on the roof, the roof was on fire at that point, so we had to climb up on the tallest spot on the roof and wait for the fire department to get us down.”
Cardinale’s girlfriend had her cell phone and was able to call the fire department from the roof.
Westboro Fire Chief Patrick Purcell said crews could see their silhouettes on the roof in the smoke.
“When the crews arrived they did an amazing job with the resources they had to not only put water on the fire but affect the rescue of those civilians that were trapped on the roof,” Purcell said.
Both Cardinale and his girlfriend were able to safely climb down ladders brought by fire fighters and they escaped uninjured from the flames.
“The important message to take away from this is they were alerted by their working smoke detectors here,” Purcell said. “Had they not operated I think it could have been a different scenario here.”
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)