Firefighters rescue 5 people trapped inside burning triple-decker in Worcester; 7 hospitalized

WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Firefighters rushed to rescue five adults and two children who were trapped inside a Worcester triple-decker that went up in flames early Tuesday morning.

Crews responding to a reported structure fire on Merryfield Street just before 3 a.m. found multiple people hanging out of the windows of the burning building, Worcester Fire Deputy Chief Andrew White said.

Five rescues were made with ground and aerial ladders as flames engulfed the building. Seven people were taken to an area hospital with undisclosed injuries.

As a result of the fire, 14 people were displaced, including one resident who described the blaze as “terrifying.”

“You work so hard for everything you got and you lose it in an instant like that,” he said.

Another resident said the raging inferno looked like “something out of a movie.”

Three floors of the eight-unit building were damaged.

The Red Cross was called to the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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