A fire tore through multiple apartments and a popular restaurant in Milford, Massachusetts Monday evening.  A police officer who was helping to evacuate people from the building ended up in the hospital. 

"I was just coming home and was like, 'What the hell is going on. And then I was like, 'Oh my God that's the Turtle Tavern," said Milford resident Anna Peniche. 

Smoke was pouring out of the Main Street building that has the Turtle Tavern on the first floor and apartments upstairs. 

Building a total loss

Milford Fire Chief Mark Nelson said the call came from an apartment around 4:30 p.m., with reports of smoke coming from a wood stove. He said the building appears to be a total loss. 

"Extensive damage," Nelson said. "The building won't be inhabitable; the restaurant won't be able to be occupied unfortunately." 

The fire station is just across the street from the building, but the chief said a lot of his resources were working a crash on a highway when the call came in. 

6 adults, 2 children evacuated

Police were the first to arrive and enter the smoky building. They helped six adults and two children out of the building. One officer, Sgt. Patrick Dailey, was taken to Milford Regional Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. He was later released.

Peniche owns a salon just down the street. She stood and watched as firefighters doused the building in water from ladders and broke windows to let the smoke vent out. 

"Good food, good drinks, and I guess everybody became family in there," Peniche said of the restaurant. 

The Turtle, as locals call it, is on Main Street in the center of town, but it's really the heart of this community, hosting donation drives and fundraisers.

Peniche said people in Milford will rally around this family-owned business and those who lost their homes above it. 

"Milford will come together and help rebuild it," Peniche said. 

"It's always very sad when we have local business owners and residents losing their place to live and people losing their livelihoods," Nelson said. "It's truly unfortunate." 

The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.