EDGEWOOD, Md. — Flames shooting out of a sliding door on to a second floor balcony.
That’s where Good Samaritans heard the a 71-year-old crying out for help late Saturday before firefighters arrived on the scene.
“So I ran over there and saw the guy standing there on his balcony,” recounted Matthew Baron, one of the victim’s neighbors, “and I hopped up on a vehicle me and two other guys helped the guy get down.”
Master Deputy State Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire says somehow combustible materials had come into contact with a stove, and the victim was badly burned as he tried to put it out.
“He did that for a minute or two before he realized that he was not able to fight back these flames,” said Alkire, “He opened up the front slider of his balcony allowing a lot of oxygen in there feeding that fire.”
Trapped on the balcony with neighbors forming a human ladder to reach him, the victim hesitated to climb down even with flames, smoke and extreme heat bearing down on him.
Neighbor recalls rescuing 71-year-old from house fire
“He didn’t want to, but eventually we started to break the bars on the railing across the street and was able to get him down safely,” said Baron.
Paramedics transported the victim to the Bayview Burn Center with burns on over 30 percent of his body.
Extensive injuries, which will require a long and painful recovery, but he’s alive thanks to some neighbors who came to his rescue.
“You saved his life,” we told Baron.
“I’m glad I was able to help,” he replied.
