Flames Gut Cooper St. Building

Boston Fire Fighters responded to a four-alarm fire, last Tuesday evening about 11pm, at 26 Cooper Street in the North End.

A woman was seriously burned as she desperately ran through the flames to exit from her, third floor apartment. She was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment according to EMS and fire officials on the scene.

The blaze which reportedly started on the first floor gutted the three-story structure as flames could be seen bursting through the roof.

Just what caused the estimated one-million dollars of damage has yet to be determined.

A neighbor, Robert Spagnuolo, was passing by the building, spotted smoke and called 911 immediately. He said, “I ran into the building and saw the whole first floor on fire.”

Exiting the building he noticed two women with their heads out of the first floor window and he and another resident assisted them to the sidewalk. They didn’t appear to be injured.

“There was no way they were getting out through the front door,” Spagnuolo told the many reporters covering the incident.

Another resident, Chris Marchal assisted the burn victim as she exited the flaming building.

Hundreds of people gathered on the one-way street as fire fighters fought to put out the flames and assist victims.

North End resident Stephen Passacantilli said, “Fire fighters did a great job of containing the fire.” He added, “Thankfully no one lost their life.”

One Fire Department official told reporters, “It’s always hard to respond to North End fires because of the narrow streets.”