GROVELAND — Robert Hoffman isn’t usually home at 3 p.m. on a Friday. But, on the afternoon of June 24, the day of Hoffman’s son’s birthday party, he happened to have the day off from his full-time job as a police officer for Massport in Boston. So, when he got the alert for a fire at the Groveland Manor Apartments, the volunteer firefighter sprang into action, zooming to the scene with his partner aboard a ladder truck.
When Hoffman, a native of Saugus, arrived at the scene, he played a key role in the rescue of two women trapped on a second-floor deck at the back of the property.
“Right away we jumped off the fire truck, grabbed a ladder, ran to the back, and there they were,” he said. “I was the first up the ladder, I grabbed a 14-year-old girl. She came over to me and I got her down and tried to calm her and as soon as that happened … at that moment … one of the oxygen tanks bleved on the first-floor, which blew out all the windows on the first floor so I quickly brought her to the ground.”
Hoffman, who got an associates degree in fire science from North Shore Community College, said he and his wife moved to Groveland in 2017, and he joined the fire department as a volunteer in an effort to give back to the community. He is one of many volunteer firefighters in the department, which has a full-time chief, and two full-time firefighters.
Last month, Hoffman and other first responders who participated in the response to the fire, which resulted in the death of one resident, were given citations for their life-saving efforts.
“These awards were amazing, I’ve never had an award issued to me before but at the end of the day we’re just doing our jobs,” he said. “Our job is to make sure everyone gets out of that house and out of danger as soon as possible and safely.”
Prior to moving to Groveland, Hoffman was a lifelong Saugonian, living in the town for 30 years and attending Elementary, Middle, and High School in Saugus.
Hoffman said he was surprised by the news of the award, and praised the efforts of his fellow first responders.
“We’re just doing our duty and everyone that day did an amazing job, all the firefighters. Not just me and my partner, all the police and fire we had that day did an amazing job. We had a lot of other towns that responded to this fire, and we were very fortunate that only one oxygen tank bleved, we pulled out eight or nine more oxygen tanks because the gentleman on the first floor that actually didn’t make it unfortunately he was on the oxygen,” he said. “It was really a shock, I wasn’t expecting it just because that’s what we do every day.”
“I was just lucky enough to be home that day, that we had such a fast response time to get to our headquarters, to get that ladder truck, to get those two ladies off that second floor,” he continued.
While Hoffman played an integral role in the response, he said he was “positive” the two women he helped rescue would have made it out safely either way because of the lightning fast response from not just Groveland but other communities nearby. For Hoffman, it was the right place at the right time scenario.
“It’s hard to say, who knows how the circumstances could have progressed if we weren’t there at that time because that fire was pretty quick. It doesn’t take long for a fire to gain that intensity of heat,” he said. “They were only in their pajamas, those poor people, and … it was a job well done by everyone there. That’s why it was tough to just accept such a great award because it means that everybody deserves something because we all get there as fast as everyone could. I’m sure some guys probably even left work, their day jobs just to head to that fire.”
The Saugus Firefighters’ Union took to Facebook to commend Hoffman for his work during the blaze, and to share the news of his award. Hoffman said he was “taken aback” when he saw the post.
“It was very nice of them,” he said.
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
