Local firefighters rescued a man from his burning home amid “severe fire conditions” Monday night, according to officials.

The 67-year-old man rescued from his Middleboro house was then transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, which included burns and smoke inhalation.

Firefighters responded to 6 Locust St., a two-story home in South Middleboro, for a report of a house fire at around 9:15 p.m. Monday.

Upon arrival, firefighters attacked the blaze from the outside. They then learned from neighbors that the home’s occupant was likely still inside the home.

Firefighters “conducted an aggressive search” and found the man near a side entrance, officials said. He was then transported by a Coastal Medical Transportation ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital.

The bulk of the fire was extinguished at about 12:30 a.m., but crews remained on the scene throughout the morning to extinguish hot spots.

One firefighter suffered a minor ear laceration and was treated at the scene.

“I would like to commend our Middleborough Fire crews that did an incredible job on the scene last night,” Middleboro Fire Chief Owen Thompson said in a statement. “We were able to simultaneously initiate a fire attack and complete search and rescue operations.

“Over the last couple of years, the Town, the Firefighters’ Union, and the Fire Department have worked collaboratively to increase our staffing, allowing us to do that,” the chief added. “I want to commend Firefighters Thomas Melucci and Robert Delaney, who demonstrated bravery and dedication as they located and removed the victim in the face of severe fire conditions.”

Middleboro Fire, with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit attached to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, is currently investigating the cause of the fire.

The cause does not appear to be intentional, but the investigation remains ongoing.

Through the preliminary investigation, investigators learned from video evidence that the fire started about 12 to 14 minutes before the Fire Department received the initial 911 call.

Crews from the Bridgewater, Carver, Lakeville, and Wareham fire departments provided on-scene mutual aid. Carver firefighters provided station coverage.

CNN
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Police in Gloucester, Massachusetts, are seeking charges against three teenagers who allegedly assaulted a transgender teen, who says he was punched and called slurs during the attack.

The Gloucester Police Department filed applications for assault and battery charges in Gloucester Juvenile Court against two 17-year-old males and one 16-year-old male, according to a news release.

Evidence from the investigation did not support the pursuit of hate crime charges, police said in the release. But the alleged victim and his mother are hopeful that will change, their attorney told CNN.

The teenagers, unnamed by the police department, will now attend a hearing where a clerk magistrate will determine whether there is probable cause for the charges, the release says. It’s unclear when the clerk magistrate hearing will take place.

Police responded to a reported assault during a party in the woods on August 30, the release says. One “juvenile” male was taken to a local hospital for treatment of his injuries, according to the release.

Although the news release doesn’t identify the victim, 16-year-old Jayden Tkaczyk told CNN affiliate WCVB he was stomped on, punched in the face and called homophobic slurs during the incident.

Tkaczyk “sustained lacerations and contusions, including black eyes, and serious nervous damage” due to the “severe beating,” his attorney, Craig Rourke, told CNN. Tkaczyk had previously experienced bullying at school, Rourke added.

The police department said its investigation, which included a specially trained hate crime investigator from the Massachusetts State Police, “did not ultimately support hate crime charges.”

Tkaczyk’s lawyer and his family are calling for hate crime charges, citing slurs they say the attackers used.

Tkaczyk’s mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk, told WCVB that her son “told me as they were stomping on his face they were using the F slur, so I don’t know how anyone can justify that and say that’s not a hate crime.”

Tkaczyk told WCVB, “Especially chasing me into the woods and saying that same thing, because they were calling me that slur, and they were calling me worse slurs.”

Rourke told CNN they were “glad that the charges are being pursued” and “hopeful that hate crime charges will follow in the future.”

Rourke described Tkaczyk as someone who was “targeted and picked on for being who they are.”

Rourke’s team is optimistic the magistrate will find probable cause for the charges and the case will move forward, he added. “Hopefully, maybe that’ll bring some closure to this incident,” he said.

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, a Democrat, previously denounced the attack on Tkaczyk.

“There should be no place in our Commonwealth or our country for violence against trans children,” the senator wrote on X in September. “We must love, protect & respect trans kids.”

Hope Watt-Bucci, the president of North Shore Pride, an LGBTQ group based in Manchester, Massachusetts, told CNN she was “horrified” to learn about the attack on Tkaczyk. Watt-Bucci said attacks against the LGBTQ community in Massachusetts’ North Shore were growing significantly, including “microaggressions, public displays of discrimination and hatred towards our community or physical violence.” The Justice Department says that there were 23 hate crimes motivated by gender identity in 2022 in Massachusetts, a significant increase from 10 in 2021 and 11 in 2020.

North Shore Pride will “continue to stand in solidarity and continue to stand for the same freedoms and protections for all people,” she added.