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Off-duty dispatcher runs into burning apartment building to save residents

MILFORD, Mass. — A Milford dispatcher is being called a hero after running into a burning apartment building to help alert residents to a fire.

Jason Corvino was just cruising around at the end of a long shift as a dispatcher at the Milford Police Department around 11 p.m. Wednesday.

"I was taking a small cruise just to blow off steam. The job's stressful some days. I was about to call my girlfriend, do you need anything? And next thing you know..." said Corvino.

He saw thick smoke coming from a multi-family apartment and thought to do one thing, run into the burning building, wake everyone up and get them out.

"I'm going in. Within 30 seconds or so another officer arrived while I was inside trying to get people to come out. I was banging on the doors. Fire! Fire!" said Corvino.

Firefighters arrived minutes later.

"Everybody was out but there was one person still unaccounted for. She was in the apartment that was on fire. There was heavy fire blowing out the living room window," said Milford Fire Dept. Lt. Bill Collins.

Fire crews quickly found the woman in the back of the building and were able to get her transported to a nearby hospital.

Jason is being called a hero, but he's not so sure.

"I haven't thought about it today. I followed my instinct and once my guys were there that I work with it was OK. We're a team," said Corvino.

Jason also says this isn't the first emergency he's responded to off-duty in recent weeks.

"Couple weeks ago I walked into an overdose at Walmart. It was the same thing. I seem to be a magnet right now," said Corvino.

The cause of the house fire remains under investigation, but preliminary evidence suggests smoking materials weren't properly disposed of.

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