Firefighters pull off rooftop rescue during Sunday duplex fire

ROCHESTER - Rochester Fire crews pulled off a rooftop rescue on Sunday during a Bridge Street fire that left 12 homeless.

Rochester Assistant Chief Tim Wilder said a male and female from 17-19 Bridge Street were unable to escape the building and climbed out on a porch roof to avoid suffocating from in the smoky blaze.

Wilder said one crew got a ladder up to the roof to rescue the pair, while another crew attacked the fire inside the building.

Wilder said there were no injuries among the fire victims or firefighters, however a cat perished in the blaze.

Wilder said a nearby apartment house at 17 ½ Bridge St. had only superficial damage, but residents there were also displaced since the electric meter serving both buildings had been pulled to fight the blaze.

In all a dozen were displaced, Wilder said.

The first alarm fire also drew mutual aid from Somersworth, Dover, Milton and Farmington.