Public Safety

March 18. 2014 2:24PM

UPDATED: Man seriously hurt in Manchester fire Saturday is in Boston hospital

MANCHESTER - Authorities identified the man rescued Saturday from a burning Front Street apartment building as 48-year-old Thomas Belliveau.
Firefighters pulled an unconscious Belliveau out of his burning first floor apartment at 298 Front St. Saturday night just before midnight.
He was revived and then airlifted to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where he was listed in good condition Tuesday afternoon. A dozen people were left homeless by the blaze, reported about 11:50 p.m. Saturday. Fire officials said it started because a pan of oil was left on a hot stove in a first floor kitchen.
Fire officials said the balloon framing in the 130-year-old building allowed flames to travel quickly from the first to the third floor. Damage was estimated at $140,000.
Twelve people, including four children, were displaced because of the heavy damage.
Previous story follows:

MANCHESTER — The first firefighters to arrive at a burning apartment house early Sunday morning pulled an unconscious man from the burning building and revived him outside, restoring his heartbeat.

The fire at 298 Front St. broke out about 1:45 a.m. Firefighters on Engine 5 arrived four minutes after the alarm was sounded and immediately entered the building.

"They discovered the male lying unconscious on the floor of the first-floor apartment," Deputy Fire Chief Michael Gamache said.

He said the crew — Lt. Michael Smith and firefighters Robert Stemska, Charles Morin and Gary Ducharme — administered CPR and revived the man. He was taken to a Manchester hospital and then airlifted to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

The 2½-story building was declared uninhabitable and was boarded up Sunday morning.

A dozen residents, four children and eight adults, escaped the fire without injury. They were assisted by the Red Cross in finding a place to stay.

The fire apparently started in the first-floor apartment when a pan of cooking oil that had been left heating on a stove began to burn. The unconscious man was found in that apartment, Gamache said.

He said the 19th-century building construction allowed the fire to spread quickly and easily to the rest of the building.

Damage to the structure was estimated at $140,000. The building had been owned by NCID Properties LLC, a Windham firm headed by Donald Combs, since 2012.

- Bill Smith, New Hampshire Union Leader