MINERSVILLE, SCHUYLKILL COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A Minersville Hero is caught on video saving a man from a burning building.
In Schuylkill County, one person was critically injured after fire chased nearly two dozen people from their homes.
The fire quickly became the scene of a couple of dramatic rescues.
A devastating day for some in Minersville. 20 people were displaced after flames ripped through six homes Sunday afternoon.
Four people were sent to the hospital with injuries, one in critical condition.
A neighbor jumped into action to save multiple lives.
Heavy smoke poured out from multiple homes on North Second Street in Minersville Sunday around 12:00 p.m. as fire crews battled flames that destroyed six homes.
Brandon Celmer lives in one of those homes. He sensed danger and got out immediately.
"I heard people screaming and it sounded like they were you know in danger and I looked out the back window and seen flames shooting out the side of the house and I thought I better get out and then firefighters started knocking on my door told me to get out so I grabbed the cat and I was out," said fire victim Brandon Celmer.
Mine subsidence evacuates homes in Luzerne County
A neighbor who was home at the time when the fire broke out across the street saw smoke, one person hanging out the window and another on the ledge.
What he did next, saved their lives.
"I couldn't see somebody in danger and I put the ladder right there and I started jumping, jumping until I got up there. That's when I helped the guy out and brung him down. When I brung him down and put him to the side that's when the fire department came and helped me bring him down. When I took him out that window I knew he was safe," said Oscar Rivera, the neighbor who helped rescue fire victims.
"I'm not surprised at all. That's his natural instincts kicking in," Celmer explained.
The three-alarm fire sent Minersville firefighters and more than a dozen different departments to a scene that Fire Chief Eric Eichenber will never forget.
"We were confronted with horrific conditions. People hanging off of roofs. Can't commend everyone enough for the work that they did," Chief Eichenber said.
Chief Eichenberg says water quickly became a great concern. Not only was water being used to fight a nearby brush fire and another fire, but also the borough was dealing with a water main break.
"My fear was I was going to run out of water. We immediately called our first and second tanker task forces into the borough just so we didn't run out of water," Chief Eichenberg added.
Meanwhile, the man who carried out the two life-saving rescues has one thing on his mind.
"I hope they are okay. I want them to be okay," Rivera said.
The Red Cross was on scene to provide temporary housing for the victims.
There is no word on the conditions of the four injured at this time.
A state police fire marshal is investigating the cause.
