An Eversource employee used a bucket truck to rescue a Somerville woman trapped on an awning before firefighters arrived

SOMERVILLE, Mass. — Fire officials say a utility worker used a bucket truck to rescue a woman from a burning building on Dec. 1 in Somerville.

Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen told WCVB that the Eversource employee was working nearby, saw the fire, and used the truck’s bucket to reach an upper floor and bring the resident to safety.

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“She had climbed out a window onto the front porch under heavy smoke and fire conditions, and the Eversource worker got her into the bucket and got her to safety,” Breen said. “So I, I’d like to really give credit to that worker. He did a hell of a job. Definitely saved a woman’s life.”

The worker, who asked not to be identified, said he was working up the street when he saw smoke and a woman stranded on an awning trying to escape through a window, so he drove over and raised his bucket truck to bring her down to safety.

Breen said the woman was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation but was not seriously injured.

Breen said firefighters contained the flames to a single unit, though all six units in the building sustained smoke and water damage.

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