Neighbors rescue couple from Savin Hill fire

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Quick-thinking neighbors William Vaillancourt (left) and John Beleheen grabbed a ladder.

By Maria Cramer and Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff

Neighbors used a ladder to save a couple this morning from a balcony on the top floor of a burning triple decker in Savin Hill.

John Beleheen, a Boston Globe truck driver, said he was walking down Tuttle Street when he saw the flames and heard screams. He ran to his neighbor William Vaillancourt's house and the two men rushed to the fire with a tall, red ladder. The flames and smoke grew more intense and the couple, in their 30's, looked as if they were ready to jump.

"We told them 'Don't jump! We're going to get you down!' " Beleheen said.

Vaillancourt added: "They were very panicked, very panicked."

Beleheen said he helped bring the woman down first, then the man, as smoke billowed around them. Firefighters arrived moments later.

"They were sucking some heavy smoke," said Vaillancourt, an elevator mechanic who lives two doors down and was stopping home to give his wife baby wipes.

No one was seriously hurt in the three-alarm fire, which started before 10 a.m. in the building at 56 Tuttle St., near the Southeast Expressway. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which appeared to have destroyed all three floors of the building.

Acting deputy fire chief Robert J. Reynolds said the fire appeared to have started on the first floor, although investigators were still on the scene. It was not immediately clear what started the fire.

"Absolutely" they were heroes, Reynolds said of the neighbors. "They were right on the scene."

Nearly one year ago, the same brown, asbestos-shingled three-decker was the scene of a slaying. Daniel Yakovleff, 20, was found stabbed to death in a bed in the third floor apartment of Steven Odegard, 41. Odegard has been charged with murdering Yakovleff.

The killing stunned the neighborhood, which is typically quiet, with well-maintained homes and apartments.

Chris McDermott, who has lived on Savin Hill for more than 50 years, shook her head standing outside the fire scene this morning. She had photos of the fire and the couple screaming from the porch taken with her cell phone.

"The room that was so much in flames is the same room where there was a murder," McDermott said shaking her head.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email

next article in local news Alleged theft from Dane Cook topped $10 million previous article in local news Tanker strikes pier at waterfront terminal