Witness helps save people trapped inside as fire rips through Taunton home

TAUNTON, Mass. — Firefighters in Taunton began battling a large structure fire on Harrison Street on Tuesday night, continuing to work into the early morning hours of Wednesday.

Officials were originally alerted to the blaze at 8:20 p.m. on Tuesday. The fire rose to three alarms as it spread throughout the apartment building, causing the roof to collapse more than two hours after firefighters arrived on scene.

Brittani Albanend immediately called 911 when she saw the house going up in flames, but after hearing screams from inside she decided to jump into action until first responders got to the scene.

"I was on the phone with the fire department and there’s people on the first floor screaming for help and they couldn’t get out," said Albanend. "So I ran up the stairs and I took the screen out of the window and I helped a couple out of the first floor."

One person had to be rescued from the blaze by ladder as first responders worked to get a man out from a second-floor balcony. That man was awake and alert when he was rescued, but his current condition is unknown.

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Fire crews spent hours trying to control the fire, which, at one point, was so intense it melted one of the fire hoses.

One firefighter was treated on scene for a heat-related condition and is expected to be okay.

All 11 people inside were able to make it out of the house safely.

Clean up is likely to take a while since there's a lot of rubble from the home and parts of the street are covered in mud, water and debris.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Cox Media Group