Off-duty Brockton firefighter saves paralyzed woman from fire

BROCKTON, Mass. -- A Brockton firefighter saved a woman's life just a short time after starting his day.

Just before 7 a.m., flames broke out at a home on Woodward Street and the firefighter who lives nearby heard the call.

“Got up, it was a normal day, watching the morning news, having coffee,” John McLaughlin said. "It just so happened I was going down the road and I get a text there's a building fire at this location."

McLaughlin responded and helped the homeowner, who is paralyzed from the waist down, get outside before she was hurt.

“I wasn't so much concerned about the fire because I didn't have water or anything. My main concern was life safety,” he said.

The woman was confined to a hospital bed right next to where the fire started. Investigators believe it was caused by a match.

"This was something in the early stages that was going up," McLaughlin said. "Five or ten more minutes, it could've caught on to her clothing or the bed."

The woman was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was back at home Wednesday night.

Many people who heard about McLaughlin's decision to run in and help the woman have called him a hero, but he says that's not the case.

“It's a decision I had to make because it's close to Christmas and she has family just like I do. I'd expect someone to do something for me,” he said.

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