Winthrop Fire Department in Lifesaving Effort at Prospect Avenue House Fire

The Winthrop Fire Department is being credited for a lifesaving effort in the rescue of a 60-year-old woman in a house fire at 53 Prospect Ave.

Fire Chief Paul Flanagan said the department received a call Sunday (June 30) at 8:22 a.m. that there was a house fire at the home located on Prospect Avenue on top of Water Tower Hill.

Upon their arrival at the scene, the firefighters saw heavy fire swallowing the second floor of the home. A 98-year-old man in a wheelchair greeted the firefighters in the first floor doorway. The firefighters carried the man in his wheelchair to the street level where neighbors assisted in transporting him away from the scene.

At that point the father and son, who reside on the third floor, arrived on the scene and informed the firefighters that a woman was situated on the third floor.

Firefighter Michael Lopez raced up a staircase to the second and third floor hallways that were totally engulfed in flames. Lopez located the woman and carried her down three flights of stairs to safety. The woman had burns on approximately 20 percent of her body.

The woman was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where she was placed in an induced coma for a couple of days. She will be undergoing surgery to repair the burns on her legs.

Flanagan commended the effort of Lopez and the other members of the WFD who participated in the rescue effort under intense conditions.

“It was the tremendous effort of this six-man crew with proper placements of hose lines that made this fire operation and rescue such a success,” said Flanagan, who supervised the department at the scene. “It was truly a life-saving rescue.”

Flanagan said the Massport Authority and Chelsea Fire Departments provided assistance in relieving the manpower due to the extreme high humidity and heat.