LANCASTER — A medical alarm activation Wednesday afternoon led to the discovery of a basement apartment fire at a six-unit apartment building, where firefighters rescued an unconscious woman and confined the blaze to a single unit.
The Lancaster Fire Department responded at about 4:20 p.m. on Feb. 5, 2026, to 30 Parker Road after Nashoba Valley Regional Dispatch District received a medical alarm activation. The alarm company requested an ambulance when they were unable to contact the resident.
As crews arrived, dispatchers upgraded the call to a possible structure fire after neighbors reported smoke coming from 30 Parker Road, a 3,500-square-foot, six-unit apartment building.
Ambulance personnel reported heavy smoke coming from a locked basement apartment and immediately began evacuating the remaining units. Lancaster Fire Chief Jon Belanger said one tenant, a woman in her 70s with reported mobility issues, was unaccounted for.
Deputy Chief Ryan Aldrich requested a working fire assignment, bringing in mutual and automatic aid from several surrounding communities, including the Clinton Fire Department, Sterling Fire Department, Berlin Fire Department, Bolton Fire Department and Leominster Fire Department. The Harvard Fire Department and Boylston Fire Department provided station coverage during the incident.
Clinton firefighters made a rapid interior attack with assistance from command staff and located the woman on the kitchen floor of the basement apartment, away from the room where the fire started. She was initially unconscious but regained consciousness during extrication, Chief Belanger said in a statement.
The woman was transported by a Lancaster Fire Department ambulance with advanced life support personnel from Bolton. Due to the severity of her condition, a medical helicopter intercepted at Clinton Hospital and flew her to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. She was later reported to be stabilized, placed in a medically induced coma and transferred to a Boston hospital. No further updates were available. Chief Belanger noted that the woman’s significant other, who was not home at the time of the incident, was the only tenant displaced by the fire.
Fire crews deployed multiple hose lines and quickly knocked down the fire, which officials said was contained to the basement apartment. Other firefighters searched the building, ventilated smoke and confirmed all residents were accounted for.
Several pets were rescued, and firefighters assisted residents with locating a missing cat in one of the apartments. One cat was found deceased in the basement apartment during a secondary search, Chief Belanger said. Firefighters attempted resuscitation efforts without success.
Town inspectors and National Grid secured power to the affected unit, which will be boarded up by the building owner. The remaining five apartments were deemed habitable, and no additional tenants were displaced.
Officials estimated about $30,000 in structural damage and $10,000 in contents loss at 30 Parker Road.
Chief Belanger said the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but preliminary findings do not indicate the fire was intentionally set.
Fire officials reminded residents to regularly check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and replace batteries at least twice a year.