By incredible odds, off-duty Providence Fire Lt. Robert McCollough happened to be driving along Hawkins Street around noon Thursday when he saw smoke emanating from a two-story house at 342 Hawkins St.
McCollough pulled over and parked the AAA tow truck he drives as a second job. "Two men were on the sidewalk, screaming to someone inside. I asked them if there was somebody inside; they said, 'Yes,'" McCollough said in an interview outside the charred dwelling Thursday afternoon.
For the first time in his 29 years as a firefighter, McCollough entered a burning building without protective gear - and without hesitation - and dragged a severely burned victim out of the house.
The man was burned over 98 percent of his body, according to a fire official who cited reports from the hospital. The man's condition could not be learned Thursday afternoon.