2 women, officer praised for quick action during Tyngsborough senior housing fire

Two residents and a police officer are being praised for their heroic efforts during a fire at a senior housing complex in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts.

Burned bacon led to the fire that forced the evacuation of dozens of residents on Thursday.

Susan Durgin had seconds to learn how use a fire extinguisher.

"It was unsettling," she said.

She and her bestie, Jeannie Andrade, who lives in the apartment across the hallway, were coming back home from shopping around noon when they were startled by their neighbor who was in his apartment cooking bacon.

"The man next door came out and said, 'Can you help me?' He said, 'My stove's on fire,'" Durgin said. "I thought, 'Well, we've got to do something.'"

Durgin quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher in the hallway and tried putting out the flames, but the fire proved too stubborn.

"I went in and I kept spraying it, and I go out, take a breath, go back in and spray it again," Durgin said.

She recalled yelling for Andrade to call the fire department.

"The cops were here within seconds," said Andrade.

Officer Evan Donnelly got to them as quickly as he could.

"By the time I got out there, that guy was out of his cop car, running in the building," recalled Durgin. "The smoke billowing out all the doors in the windows. It was, like, crazy."

Donnelly, familiar with the building and its residents due to past calls, rushed to the 82-year-old man and got him out of his apartment, then grabbed another fire extinguisher and finished the job.

"That wonderful officer that came, he saved the day," said Andrade. "We all could have lost everything."

Moments later, other first responders arrived and helped Donnelly evacuate the rest of the residents in the building.

The ordeal gave folks at the senior housing complex a little too much excitement for one day, and another reason to be thankful for the officer that came to their rescue.

"They care. They really do," said Andrade.

"It was good," added Durgin. "And my cat's safe!"

The tenant whose kitchen caught fire was treated for smoke inhalation and is reportedly doing fine. He's spending a few days with relatives, according to police.