NORTHEAST HOUSTON – Some brave neighbors jumped into action when they saw a house on fire in their neighborhood and rescued a family of seven.
The home is on Sagedowne Lane and Beamer Road in southeast Houston.
“I tried kicking the door down between them inside and me outside,” said neighbor Christian Cardenas. “We were able to open it and they were passing us kids one-by-one.”
Another neighbor Alejandro Almaguer said: “Luckily, God guided us, and we did the right thing of course.”
The fire started late Saturday night.
“We were painting outside with the kids and we started smelling a weird smell. It was a plastic smell,” said neighbor Alejandro Almaguer.
Almaguer, along with Cardenas, George Cardenas, and Ivan Madrigal, looked outside and saw smoke coming from a home across the street.
“We saw a little bit of red tipping through the house,” Almaguer said.
They ran over to the house. Cardenas grabbed a fire extinguisher.
“I busted the window one of the glasses slashed me. I could feel the blood running down my arm,” he said.
Three adults, two children, a toddler and a baby were sleep inside the burning home.
“I just kept yelling there is a fire! Wake up! I was yelling to the top of my lungs,” Cardenas said.
The Good Samaritans helped the family escape through the front door.
“It was just a shock,” Christian said.
Before they knew it, the fire took over the house.
“It felt like an hour, but it was only five or six minutes,” George said.
George’s family captured the intense moments through their Ringdoor camera. They called 911.
“You might say your prepared for stuff like this, but it happened so fast,” George said.
Cardenas and his family are grateful they jumped in and helped.
“I’m just happy that they are all okay the kids are okay,” Ivan Madrigal said.
“A minute or two longer it would have probably ended differently. It was just that bad,” Christian said.
The Red Cross is helping the family and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Almaguer says they plan on having a fundraiser to help the family get back on track.