Elderly Couple Killed in Chelmsford, Mass. Fire

(NECN: Scot Yount, Chelmsford, Mass.) - "I am okay, but I don't know what I am going to do," said Paula Telesco, who lost everything in a fast moving overnight fire.

The blaze started in an apartment on the third floor. An elderly couple who lived in that apartment was killed. Four other family members who were visiting, including two children, were injured. One of those children, a boy, was Med-Flighted to a Boston hospital with burns.

"I can confirm that two people are dead, and this is a sad day to start the year off, it really is," said Chelmsford Fire Chief Michael Curran.

Firefighters rescued at least four people from the upper floors where they were trapped on balconies. One of those people is Dolores Dobbins.

"Oh they are great, all the firemen were wonderful, lead you right down, no problem whatsoever, so you have to put everything into perspective, I am alive, okay, everything, nothing else matters," said Dobbins.

"It is very clear that if not for their efforts we would be standing in front of a building that had many more occupants perished in a fire," said State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan.

At this point, the number of people who have been affected is unknown, but the Red Cross confirms there are 28 apartments in the building.
Firefighters spent part of the morning trying to help residents salvage what they could, like Valeska Nova's wedding ring.

"With this ring, my husband asked me about engage, yeah, it is very important," said a tearful Nova in broken English.

Paula Telesco, a music professor at UMass Lowell, lost everything, including a Steinway Grand Piano she has had for 37 years.

"I have nothing, I didn't bring my purse, my phone, my wallet, nothing, I just ran, I grabbed my coat and ran, I have nothing," said Telesco.

The investigation into what caused the fire has just begun, and no preliminary finding has been released. The State Fire Marshal has said that the fire is not considered suspicious.
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