By Edward Mason
The Boston Herald

LYNN, Mass. — A Lynn firefighter suffered a "cardiac issue" and collapsed while battling a two-alarm blaze yesterday morning on Oakwood Avenue.

Mark Ducharme was in "serious but stable condition" at Union Hospital in Lynn, according to Deputy District Chief Jim McDonald. Chief Jack Hart said the jake suffered a "cardiac issue" but could not say exactly what caused the firefighter to be hospitalized.

Ducharme collapsed beside a ladder truck set up in front of the flaming house.

"I heard him say, 'Cippy, Cippy, I'm going down,' " said frefighter Bob Cipolletti, choking up as he recalled his distressed comrade. "I looked down and there he was."

"He collapsed onto the ground grabbing his chest and coughing very hard," said Meg Prentiss, 32, of Lynn, who said she saw fellow jakes performing CPR on Ducharme for about 10 to 15 minutes.

"He looked like he was in rough condition," Prentiss said.

The fire started after 10 a.m, but nobody was home at the 2 1/2-story, single-family house.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, McDonald said.

Copyright 2010 Boston Herald Inc.