Boston police Sgt. Michael O’Connor usually stays behind the scenes of the Hollywood blockbusters filmed in the Hub, but yesterday he nabbed a starring role in a real-life drama.
O’Connor, the Boston Police Department’s motion picture liaison, was one of four men who rushed into a burning apartment in Roslindale to make sure no one was in harm’s way.
“This was by far the most excitement I’ve seen this year,” O’Connor said yesterday. O’Connor has spent time rubbing elbows with big-budget action stars such as Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, but nothing quite prepared him for his own dramatic role.
“This had the potential for something really bad to happen,” O’Connor said.
O’Connor had joined Mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor Rob Consalvo to award a grant for an afterschool program at the Sisters of Saint Josephine. The steamy backyard barbeque on Stellman Street in Roslindale was in full swing when someone spotted a fire in a nearby apartment.
“He didn’t even hesitate a moment,” said Sister Nancy Braceland. “There was an immediate sense of what was important.”
O’Connor and another man ran over to the apartment building. O’Connor put a handkerchief over his mouth and searched through the smoky third-floor apartment.
“It was pitch black in there. All we saw was smoke,” said O’Connor. He went in three times and didn’t find anyone, so he alerted people in other apartments and evacuated the area. An off-duty firefighter also checked the apartment and Ismael Ramirez, a neighbor, helped two women get out from the third floor with a ladder.
The fire was extinguished quickly and no one was hurt in the blaze.
