Hero carries man out of burning building, then disappears
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A man ran into a burning home in Fresno and came out carrying a man who lives inside over his shoulder as flames popped and exploded behind him.
Beth Lederach of Clovis tells the Fresno Bee that she was driving by when she saw the duplex in flames Saturday. She pulled over, called 911 and began shooting video with her phone.
A woman standing on the sidewalk holding a baby was shouting that her father, who had been hooked up to an oxygen tank, was still inside.
"I was pretty shaken up about it," Lederach told the Fresno Bee. "As I got out of the car, this woman came up with this baby and said, 'My dad is in there! My dad is in there!' I didn't know what to do. I felt so helpless."
The flames then surged and several people who had been trying to help ran down the driveway.
They were followed by a stocky man with a mustache in jeans a Los Angeles Dodgers cap who had the woman's father over his shoulder. Neither Lederach nor Fresno fire officials knew the identity of the rescuer.
"I couldn't believe it," Lederach said. "I was so relieved, I just wanted to cry."
Firefighters then arrived and had the blaze out about 20 minutes later, fire Capt. Kris Townsend told the Bee.
The man who was rescued, whose name was not released, was treated at a hospital, Townsend said.
The fire apparently started in a garage and was well-involved by the time firefighters arrived, he said.
The blaze did an estimated $100,000 in damage.
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