Police officers are being hailed as heroes for running into a burning building in Somerville and saving several people inside.
As firefighters rushed to the building on Bond Street as the blaze erupted about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, several Somerville police officers rushed inside to alert the people living there.
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"If the police officer had not come in to grab us, we would not have been outside of the house," Alexis Richardson said.
The fire was powerful enough to melt a nearby SUV and peel off siding on a building across the street. It spread so fast that residents left everything behind, even their cellphones.
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"Getting everyone out of the house, that is all we cared about," Officer Thomas Lambert said.
No one was injured in the fire but one firefighter was taken to the hospital for dehydration.
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The blaze was caused by a cigarette, fire officials said. It left nine people without a home.
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