MATTAPAN (WHDH) — A Boston firefighter escaped serious injury Wednesday night when a fire truck ladder collapsed at the scene of a two-alarm blaze in Mattapan, officials said.
Firefighters responding at 7:40 p.m. to a fire in a three-story, multi-family home on Duke Street were met by heavy smoke on the third floor. As they battled the blaze, Tower Ladder 10 malfunctioned, causing a ladder with an attached basket to drop against the house.
Although no one was on the ladder at the time of the malfunction, one firefighter who was in the basket at the time fell a few feet but was uninjured. Boston Fire Commissioner Joseph Finn said had the ladder not fallen against the house, the firefighter could have been seriously injured.
Finn said the department’s trucks are regularly serviced and there was no sign anything was wrong with the ladder.
The department’s motor squad responded to the scene and the cause of the malfunction is being investigated.
The building was safely evacuated and 15 residents have been displaced.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
This is a developing news story, 7News will add information as it becomes available.
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