Norwood Fire Lt. Michael Benedetti Saves 11-Year-Old Boy from Burning Home-October 8, 1974

When Fire Lieutenant Michael Benedetti rescued 11-year-old Edward Doucet from the boy’s burning home early Sunday morning, the chaotic speed of the rescue left him no time to even check the identity of the child whose life he was pulling from the flames.

“I didn’t know who it was. I didn’t even know if it was a boy or a girl. I just knew I wasn’t going to stay very long in that burning room,” the lieutenant reflected this week.

Young Edward Doucet remained hospitalized this morning in the intensive care unit at Norwood Hospital, listed in fair condition with burns to his hands and face following the harrowing ordeal.

While saving a life is a momentous achievement, it is not the first time the 21-year veteran of the Norwood Fire Department has cheated tragedy. Though he modestly tried to dismiss the rescue as “one of those things that happen every day and go unnoticed,” his voice carried a quiet, undeniable pride in his profession. “It was just a matter of luck, really,” he added.

A Midnight Inferno on K Street

The drama unfolded during a two-alarm blaze reported at 12:30 a.m. at the single-family home located at 9 K Street. The fire thoroughly gutted the seven-room structure owned by Mrs. Cornelia J. Doucet, who managed to escape unharmed alongside her other son and two daughters.

However, the destructive fire was immediately shrouded in deep suspicion. Norwood Fire Chief Irving J. Dobson disclosed that investigators from the state fire marshal’s office are probing the blaze because it marks the fourth suspicious fire at the exact same address over the past four years:

• July 1970: An electrical blaze caused $4,000 in damage.
• August 1970: A fire ignited on the exterior rear of the house while Mrs. Doucet was temporarily staying with friends during repairs from the previous incident.
• November 1973: A bedroom closet fire caused an additional $2,500 in damage.

Adding to the mystery, authorities are actively investigating a bizarre connected incident: just hours before the house fire, Mrs. Doucet’s automobile was reported stolen around 8:45 p.m. and later discovered completely burned out in a sand pit off Everett Street. Chief Dobson confirmed that all previous fires at the K Street residence were viewed as of suspicious origin.

Inside the Burning Bedroom

Lt. Benedetti recalled that the department was first alerted to Sunday morning’s emergency via a phone call from an anonymous woman. Norwood firefighters had already endured a punishing night responding to a relentless series of brush fires and false alarms.

“We got near the fire,” the lieutenant said, “and I could see that the whole house was already in flames.”

Arriving in his personal vehicle well ahead of the heavy apparatus, Benedetti sprinted to the rear of the house toward the sound of a woman’s desperate screams and police officers struggling to force entry.

“I remember someone was trying to get the window open while the woman, the boy’s mother, screamed that her son was in the bedroom there,” he said. “I don’t remember thinking. I just went right in through the window and crawled along the floor. Fortunately, the boy was only a few feet from the window. He was unconscious, probably from smoke inhalation.”

“I grabbed him by his belt and practically threw him out the window into a police officer’s arms,” he continued, “and then I dove out the window myself. It would have been impossible to stay in there much longer.”

While Edward was rushed to Norwood Hospital for treatment of facial and hand burns, Lt. Benedetti escaped with minor cuts to one hand.

A Quiet Reflection

The 49-year-old father of three confessed that while he hadn’t yet visited the young boy in the days following the fire, the rescue weighed heavily on his mind. “I have thought about it. I wanted to see the person I pulled out of there, and I wondered how he was doing.”

Despite the heroics, Benedetti characterized the incident as “fairly routine action on a routinely rough night at the station.”

There was, however, one heartwarming surprise amid the chaos. His wife, who rarely visits active fire scenes, heard the dispatch call over the radio and drove over because their home was nearby. Although she arrived after the rescue had already been accomplished, she was able to catch up with her husband and speak with him for a few moments once the blaze was fully brought under control.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger