DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Nearly two dozen people are without a home after a fire tore through a triple-decker in Dorchester over the weekend.
A pair of quick-thinking EMTs said they were just driving by when they saw the smoke pouring out of the Harvard Avenue home. They called the fire in over the radio but knew they could not wait for firefighters to arrive so they ran into the home to alert those who live there.
“We saw smoke coming out of the building,” EMT Mackenzie Mills said “Then when we crossed through the intersection we saw the flames from the porch.”
Almost 12 residents were evacuated safely and firefighters arrived at the scene and the two EMTs took a step back to let firefighters continue their work.
“I got the family from the first floor and Casey went up to the second and third floors to make sure that the residents were out of those units as well,” Mills said.
Strong winds pushed the flames to a neighboring home and set that structure on fire as well.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire before it escalated and no one was hurt.
Local fire officials praised the two EMTs for their actions. They said they were just doing their job to make sure everyone was safe.
“In the moment we didn’t think about what was happening or what we were doing. We just sprang into action,” EMT Cassandra Cohen said. “Like, Mackenzie said, due to the great training we kind of just jumped in, it was natural, I mean we run in and out of houses all the time.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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