Unconscious Woman Saved From Burning Rockland Home

ROCKLAND (CBS) – A woman was rushed to the hospital early Thursday morning after police and firefighters pulled her from a burning home in Rockland.

The fire at the multi-unit building on East Water Street broke out just before 1 a.m. When firefighters arrived they found heavy smoke coming from the third floor at the rear of the building.

With some help from police, they were able to get a woman out after she was found unconscious on the third floor. She was rushed to South Shore Hospital and is expected to be ok.

Rockland Fire Chief Scott Duffey said with the help of 12 different communities it took about 40 minutes to get the fire under control.

"These guys and girls did a great job here tonight. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of interior work, a lot of grunt work, opening up ceilings. It's a cold night and they are all wet, just an incredible job by all crews that worked on this scene," Duffey told reporters.

No other injuries were reported.

About 20 people received help from the Red Cross to find another place to stay. Some residents returned to the building Thursday morning to gather their belonging and survey the damage.

Duffey said the building, which also has a business on the first floor, is probably not a total loss, and that it likely sustained a several hundred thousand dollars in damages.

"The building next door they evacuated too," said neighbor Richard Devore. "I looked outside and saw the fire. I'm lucky they didn't evacuate our building."

There's no word yet on how or where the fire started.