‘Very hard to contain’: 2 firefighters injured battling 3-alarm Worcester blaze

WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Two firefighters were injured Wednesday morning while braving freezing conditions to battle a three-alarm blaze that broke out at a home in Worcester, officials said.

Crews responding to Allen Street just before 5 a.m. found heavy flames coming from inside a triple-decker home.

Firefighters rushed into the house and onto the second floor where they saw the heaviest fire; however, they had to retreat from the building after a frozen hydrant slowed down their operation, Deputy Chief Martin Dyer said.

The flames then spread into the walls and the attic of the home, leaving a giant hole in the roof.

“With the fire growth already so heavy on arrival, the fire just took off,” Dyer explained. “It has been very hard to contain it since then.”

Officials are working on contacting all the home’s residents while they wait for the building to be deemed safe to conduct a search for anyone who may be inside.

Dyer says more than a dozen occupants have been displaced.

The firefighters sustained minor injuries and were transported to a local hospital.

This blaze came three days after a five-alarm fire about a mile away on Lowell Street took the life of firefighter Christopher Roy, 38, of Shrewsbury.

Dyer says some of the firefighters who responded to Allen Street Wednesday also helped fight the Lowell Street flames. He praised their hard work as they continue to mourn the loss of their brother.

“Once the three tone struck, the firefighters went straight to work,” Dyer said. “All bad thoughts and what not went out of their head and they came and did the best job that they can.”

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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