CHARLOTTE (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) — A second grader, 13-year-old, and a grandfather are being hailed as heroes after a fire swallowed part of a West Charlotte apartment.
“Please help, my house is on fire,” was what Antoine Rivers told his grandfather Marion Shepherd.
“I ran over there and looked — the kitchen was just blazing, thick black smoke,” said Shepherd. He says the fire was crawling up the walls and scorching the ceiling and the apartment above.
Child saves elderly neighbor from apartment fire in northwest Charlotte
Video posted to the CFD Twitter shows the team effort from other residents who sprang into action with fire extinguishers and muscle.
“You know it was scary because the whole time I wasn’t able to do anything because I can’t lift my mom.”
Thirteen-year-old Marquel says it was difficult watching the scene play out as rescuers made their way to the scene.
“I couldn’t pick up my mom and put her in the wheelchair, so I had to call my neighbor,” said Marquel.
Charlotte Fire wants residents to know they should never re-enter a burning building, but many are happy these neighbors were brave enough to save a life. They say the cause was an accident due to an unattended stove.
