A man fled his apartment and a firefighter was injured in a two-alarm blaze mid-day Tuesday in West River.
The fire broke out in a first-floor apartment at 202 Sherman Ave.. around 11:45 a.m.
Forty-eight firefighters worked together to put out the fire within about a half hour, according to Assistant Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli.
One person was inside the apartment and got out safely, according to Marcarelli. Firefighters went through the 10 apartments in the same wing of the complex to make sure everyone was out; they rescued a small dog from an apartment directly above the one on fire.
The complex has two wings separated by a courtyard. There was no need to evacuate the other wing, Marcarelli said.
He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. He said he expects all the apartments to be cleared for reoccupancy except the one where hte fire started, which was heavily damaged, and the one above.
Officer John DeFrancesco went to the hospital to be treated from sprains and heat exhaustion, Marcarelli said.
“The guys get overcome more easily” in hot and muggy weather, he said. “They’re wearing 100 pounds of gear. They’re exerting themselves to the max. They get overcome pretty easily from the heat.”
