BROCKTON, Mass. — Eleven people, among them four firefighters and two children, were taken to hospitals after a five-alarm fire tore through a Brockton triple-decker on Monday morning, The Boston Globe reported. Fire Chief Brian Nardelli said all of them were in stable condition, according to the Globe.

Five people were brought down from the Spring Street building on ground ladders, Boston 25 News reported. Nardelli credited the city's spending on department staffing for those rescues. "Conducting rescues over ground ladders is one of the most difficult things we do as firefighters," he told reporters at the scene, the station reported.

The chief said residents were "hanging out of windows" as crews reached the house, the Globe reported. Boston 25 quoted him as saying one or two people may have jumped. No one appeared to have burns, according to the Globe; smoke was the main injury among residents, and two people who jumped may have minor bone or muscle injuries, the chief said.

One firefighter's air supply gave out inside. "We had one firefighter that was up there, they were doing a search because there was a report someone might still be in the building. He ran low on air and called a mayday," the chief said at the scene, 7News WHDH reported. A rapid intervention team was sent in, but the Globe reported that he got himself out a window and onto a ladder. "He was working so hard up there and ended up coming down over a ground ladder," Nardelli said, according to Boston 25.

Jake Wark, a spokesperson for the state fire marshal's office, said the fire was accidental and began near an electric fireplace in a first-floor living room, the Globe reported. Earlier reports from Boston 25 and WHDH said the cause was under investigation.

The Globe reported that more than 70 firefighters went inside, with help from Avon, Stoughton, Whitman and Holbrook, and that the fire was controlled in about an hour. NBC Boston also reported a large mutual-aid response. The Globe put the start at about 8:20 a.m.; WHDH and NBC Boston said about 8:30 a.m.

Building inspector Frank Gazerro said roughly a third of the house was damaged and it will not be demolished. "I have a rule that if two thirds are destroyed, then I’ll tear it down," he said, according to the Globe. The Red Cross is aiding two families and seeking a third, spokesperson Kelly Isenor said, the Globe reported.

"We are alive, so it’s not that bad," resident Maria Lopes, who was away during the fire, told the Globe.