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Boston Fire Department thanks ‘heroic’ Roxbury man for rescuing neighbor during fire
Officials said Socrate Joseph “undoubtedly saved” his neighbor’s life during the blaze.
The Boston Fire Department is thanking a Roxbury man for his quick actions during an early morning fire Wednesday that they say “undoubtedly” saved his neighbor’s life.
Firefighters responded to the blaze at 971 Tremont St. around 3:30 a.m., arriving to find fire showing from the third and fourth floors, officials said.
During the fire, officials said, Socrate Joseph rescued his neighbor.
“His quick actions of carrying his neighbor to an exit and passing her to responding firefighters were heroic and undoubtedly saved her life in a rapidly progressing fire,” Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke said in a statement.
Joseph, who lives on the third floor of the building, told Boston 25 News he was on his way out of structure when he came across his elderly, blind neighbor on the second floor.
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“I ran back upstairs on the third floor and got my phone so I could use it as a flashlight, went back downstairs, looked for her, grabbed her hand, she was pulling back,” Joseph said. “Picked her up, put her over my shoulder, proceeded to go down the steps with her.”
He met firefighters on the stairs, who brought the woman down to EMS, according to the station.
“It was just the right thing to do, even though she was being hesitant,” Joseph told Boston 25 News. “But I just couldn’t leave her there. If I did not, it would be on my conscience. I don’t know her, but it was the right thing to do. She is a neighbor. … I would want someone to do that for my grandmother.”
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According to the fire department, one resident was taken by Boston EMS to a local hospital. Twelve adults and two children who were displaced by the blaze are being assisted by the Red Cross, and the fire is estimated to have caused $500,000 in damages.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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