Neighbor Saves A Mom And Her Daughter From Burning South Sacramento Home
SOUTH SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Firefighters say a neighbor saved the lives of a mother and her young daughter when he pulled them from their burning south Sacramento home.
Joe Brown lives across the street, and says he was just watching TV when he heard an explosion. First he thought it was gunfire, until he stepped outside and saw smoke.
"The mother and the daughter was leaning out the window, so I grabbed the daughter first, because the mom was saying get my daughter get my daughter," he said.
His heart was still racing long after the fire was out.
"I'm still in shock, you know, I'm still in shock to see something like that, to see somebody on fire, but I'm still glad I was home at the right time to help," he said.
Brown could barely catch his breath, retelling the story of his life-saving rescue.
"The boy was already outside saying help my sister help my sister," he said. "Once I saw the kid say 'come out and help my sister,' then I seen the smoke, the fire, the blaze you know?"
He ran across the street to the burning home on 68th Avenue.
"And that's when I saw the mom and daughter leaning out the window like this," he said.
They were trapped.
The mom, Joe says, was yelling to get her daughter out first. So he pulled the little girl out the window to safety, then went back for Mom. He says she was on fire when he got her out. Another neighbor was spraying water on her with a hose.
"The neighbor behind them had a garden hose and he was putting her out as I was dragging her, dragging her to safety getting her away from the house," he said.
One minute he was watching TV. The next he was a hero.
Firefighters say he had the right idea.
"At this point it looks like this guy made the right decision and was able to help pull the two victims out," said Scott Williams with Sac City Fire.
The house is a total loss, but firefighters say two lives were saved thanks to Joe.
"But I'm just glad I was home to help out to save somebody's kids lives, because I have kids of my own and if something like that happened to them, I'd hope somebody would do the same," Brown said.
Firefighters say the fire was accidental, caused by improper use of a cleaning solvent. In all, firefighters say two adults and two children were taken to UC Davis Medical Center.
