With an oxygen tank supplying new air into his smoke-inundated lungs, Bruno Fragoneni briefly lifted his mask to recount his role in preventing a kitchen fire from turning into a full-blown blaze Tuesday.

Property manager of a 21-apartment block at 310 Clyde Rd., Fragoneni and property supervisor Gord Sararas were on the roof investigating a leak when the building's alarm went off.

After quickly identifying the source of the fire, Fragoneni grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran into an apartment unit, barely finding his way to the kitchen through thick smoke.

A young adult male was still inside and had been trying to deal with a grease fire that got out of control. The unidentified man suffered burns to his arm when he was splashed by grease while trying to pull the pan from the stove.

Fragoneni was able to extinguish most of the flames but was soon overcome by smoke.

"Nobody realizes how bad smoke is until they're in it," he explained, his voice echoing inside the oxygen mask.

Sararas, with help from his son, had already ensured 911 was called and was frantically trying to evacuate the building.

"We were both on our hands and knees banging on apartment doors."

It wasn't long before the property supervisor realized Fragoneni was in trouble.

"Bruno took too much smoke. He had to get out right away. I grabbed the fire extinguisher."

Although he was able to prevent the fire from further spreading, Sararas still credited Fragoneni for containing the kitchen fire.

But Sararas was also quick to assist the injured tenant, who was now outside, in severe pain due to his burns. The property supervisor cooled the victim's skin using cool hose water.

"He had layers of skin coming off him," he recalled.

The victim was treated on the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital via ambulance.

Meanwhile, the apartment's evacuated residents gathered outside, watching firefighters investigate and clear hallways of smoke, awaiting word they could re-enter their homes.

Sitting grouped together between fire trucks, Fragoneni sat with Sararas and his family members, reliving the harried minutes after the fire broke out. One of the things that struck them was that many residents didn't seem to take the fire alarm seriously.

"It's just amazing how people didn't react right away to that smoke alarm," said Sararas. "But everybody got out safely and that's the most important thing."

That's typical, according to Cambridge's Chief Fire Prevention Officer Brent Smith. He said people wait too long to respond, often as a result of frequent false alarms. He emphasized that human rescue always takes priority so it can take longer to get at a fire.

"Hopefully, by the time we get there, the evacuation is done."

Smith estimated damages to the man's apartment unit at about $3,000. He added that damages could have been much worse if not quickly contained, as grease fires are known to cause much more fire damage.