‘Jump on the mattress’: Man helps save neighbors trapped in burning home
By Brianna Borghi
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BOSTON (WCVB) — A Boston woman and her two children are safe after a neighbor helped them escape a burning home in the city’s Roslindale neighborhood.
Boston Fire Department officials said the fire started shortly after 12 a.m. Saturday in the right side of the duplex at 10-12 Delford St. and grew to three alarms.
Clidfod Saintjean, who lives next door to the duplex, said he sprung into action when he heard the fire alarms. He then noticed a neighbor and her two kids trapped on the second floor and decided to use his mattress to help get them to safety.
“I put my mattress over there in the back and I put it out of the window, and I told them to jump on the mattress,” Saintjean said. “But they refused (at first). I tell them: ‘Come on, come on. The fire is coming too close to us.’ And when I do that, they just drop the kids.”
Saintjean caught the children down below and then their mother was able to jump to safety.
“Very heroic. Quick thinking to realize there was a mattress,” said BFD spokesperson Brian Alkins. “Neighbors helping neighbors makes our job a lot easier.”
Alkins said the duplex fire was knocked down within 30 minutes. Two firefighters were transported to an area hospital to be treated for minor injuries and are doing OK, according to Alkins.
In all, five adults and four children were displaced by the fire, which caused an estimated $1 million worth of damages. The Red Cross of Massachusetts is helping those displaced residents find housing.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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