A veteran Methuen firefighter escaped serious injury Friday when he fell through a hole inside a burning home and dropped to the basement below where he was rescued by his colleagues about two minutes after he called for help, officials said.
The firefighter is a lieutenant assigned to Engine 5, has been on the job for some 20 years and was being treated for non-life threatening injuries at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, said Deputy Fire Chief Sean Nartiff,who declined to identify the firefighter.
The two-alarm fire at 50 Gill Ave. gutted the one-story ranch home and the cause is under investigation by State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan’s office and the Methuen department, officials said. A dog owned by the residents was killed in the fire, Nartiff said.
Nartiff said someone made a 911 call about the fire, which was first received by the Lawrence fire department because Gill Avenue is on the city line. The Methuen department was alerted to the fire at 12:52 p.m. and was on scene at 12:54 p.m., Nartiff said.
The house was fully involved when firefighters arrived, he said. When a neighbor told them that they feared two people were still inside, firefighters grabbed a hose and headed inside to search the interior despite the heavy fire and smoke conditions, Nartiff said.
“When we get there, a neighbor said there was two people trapped inside,’’ Nartiff said. “So our initial response was for rescue.’’
It was during that search, Nartiff, said, the firefighter fell through a “burn hole’’ in the first floor of the ranch. He fell 10 feet into the basement and called out a ‘Mayday’ to his colleagues for help, Nartiff said.
Firefighters raced to the rear of the building, made their way inside and hustled their colleague to safey, Nartiff said. “It was full of fire and smoke,’’ Nartiff said of the basement. “But he was able to stand up on his own,’’ Nartiff said.
Nartiff said Friday’s rescue was the first time in five years that Methuen firefighters needed to save one of their own.
John R. Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @JREbosglobe.