Firefighter Dies Inside Five-Alarm Massachusetts Fire: Reports

A firefighter died after getting trapped inside a building while battling a five-alarm blaze in Worcester, Massachusetts, on the morning of Dec. 8. Google Street View

A firefighter died after getting trapped inside a building while battling a five-alarm blaze in Worcester, Massachusetts, on the morning of Dec. 8. A fire goes to a five-alarm on the fourth call for additional manpower and equipment, indicating a severe blaze.

Firefighter Christopher Roy was rescued from the building but later died at the hospital from injuries he sustained during the blaze. A second rescued firefighter is in stable condition, fire chief Michael Lavoie told WCVB.

“Firefighters were heroic in their efforts to rescue their colleague under extreme conditions,” Lavoie said.

Roy served in the Worcester Fire Department for about two years. He leaves behind a daughter, parents, and a sibling, the chief said.

Firefighters were sent to 7 Lowell Street at 3:58 a.m. after residents said they smelled smoke and alarms sounded. “Conditions deteriorated rapidly, with heavy fire forcing several firefighters on the second floor to evacuate,” Lavoie said.

He was trapped inside the Lowell Street building for a considerable period of time before he could be rescued.

The Red Cross told WCVB that about a dozen people were displaced by the fire.

“Please keep the members of the Worcester FD and their families in your thoughts and prayers while they mourn the loss of a firefighter today,” wrote the Woburn Fire Department on Twitter, according to the Boston Herald.

“Our thoughts are with our brothers and sisters of the #Worcester Fire Department for the loss of their member. @auburnmassfire as well as the rest of the fire service are standing by to assist in any way we can.,” Auburn Fire Rescue wrote in a tweet.

Other details about the incident are not clear.