A Boston firefighter rescued from a basement during a nine-alarm fire Wednesday was in cardiac arrest when he left the scene.
Several other firefighters were hurt in the blaze in the brownstone on Beacon Street.
A WCVB photographer reported EMS crews were doing CPR on the firefighter.
Witnesses also said the high wind was fanning the flames.
The fire reached nine-alarms, believed to be the highest in Boston.
Firefighters were struggling to keep the flames from spreading. They were evacuated from the building as conditions worsened.
Onlookers were stunned by the sight of injured firefighters, and the scale of the fire, with flames shooting from the roof.
Fisher College student Alex Brizer, 19, told The Boston Heralnd: "We saw a firefighter being taken into an ambulance. he didn't look good. It was really scary. These guys are heroes."
Carpenter John Labby, 45, of Haverhill, who was working across the street when the fire started, added: "I never saw anything like that before ... I really didn't want to look. I felt bad for him."
