Five Cambridge police officers took a day off yesterday as a reward for helping to save 100 people from an eight-alarm fire in Central Square on October 1, 1993.

The officers were also honored for their heroics in a ceremony last Wednesday in front of friends and relatives at Cambridge Police Headquarters.

Officers James A. DeFrancesco, Joseph Wilson, Peter Neal, E.-J. Frammartino and Lt. Edward Huffey each received a Medal of Valor and an eight hour day-off, said Lt. Det. Frank Pasquarello.

City Councillors Michael A. Sullivan, Kathleen L. Born and Vice-May-or Sheila T. Russell were also in attendance.

Officer Don Bombino, one of five officers to receive honorable mention, described the October fire as being "like nothing I had experienced before."

"[It was like a ] towering inferno, to describe it mildly," Pasquarello said about the fire, which raged from 11 at night well into Saturday morning and drove 29 families into the street.

Police arrived on the scene of the blaze about five minutes before fire fighters, who were busy fighting another fire that night, according to Bombino. "It seemed like forever," he said.

In the brief time before the fire department arrived, police officials formed human pyramids and dashed in and out of the burning building to safely evacuate all 100 occupants.

"I was lowered onto a second-floor landing but I couldn't see much," medal recipient DeFrancesco told The Crimson last October. "So I called for a flashlight and I could make out two figures moving in the smoke. I called to them and picked them up and passed them out to the window."

Despite the intense heat, officers entered the building from the ground floor and knocked on doors with unprotected hands to seek out residents still inside.

"Some people in the building didn't even know it was on fire," Pasquarello told The Crimson shortly after the fire. Several officers, including DeFrancesco, were taken to Cambridge City Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation but were otherwise unharmed.

Pasquarello said he regretted not being able to honor all 20 Cambridge Police Officers who were involved in fighting the blaze.

"We had to draw the line somewhere," said Pasquarello.