Flames tore through a home on Cape Cod on Sunday, injuring three firefighters, including one who had to be flown to a Boston hospital after a heroic rescue.
Neighbors called 911 just after 1 p.m. Sunday to report the fire at the Rivers Edge home, and fire investigators from the state fire marshal's office responded to support the Falmouth Fire Department on scene.
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"Watching the Patriots game, we could smell smoke, looked out the window and saw flames shooting from the roof," neighbor Rick Hamilton said.
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Falmouth's fire chief says the first firefighters on scene busted down the front door, when one of them fell through the floor, into the basement.
The fire chief detailed the brave rescue, saying firefighters rushed into the home's smoky basement and got the firefighter out to safety.
"Very smoky area with still some fire in the basement, and his PASS alarm went off, and they were able to locate him and successfully remove him from the building," Falmouth Fire chief Timothy Smith explained. "Fire crews did one heck of a job not only getting him out of the building, and one of their comrades being injured, but then having to turn and to work on extinguishing the fire."
The firefighter was taken by Falmouth ambulance to a nearby field where Boston MedFlight was waiting to fly him to Massachusetts General Hospital. According to the state fire marshal's office, he suffered significant and traumatic injuries but is expected to survive. He was in stable condition at MGH on Sunday night.
Two other firefighters were also injured and are expected to be OK. One hurt their shoulder, and another hurt their knee and was being treated at Falmouth Hospital.
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"Terrible, terrible, nobody wants to see anybody hurt, they work too hard too hard in Falmouth," one woman said.
No one was home at the time of the fire. Neighbors tell NBC10 Boston that the homeowners spend winters in Florida.
The fire chief said early indications are that the blaze started in the basement. The cause remains under investigation.
