Two cousins jumped into action to save a bedridden woman who was trapped in her burning apartment, according to local reports.
Crews responded to reports of a fire in an elderly woman’s apartment at Bradford Condominiums in Woburn, Massachusetts early Friday morning, the local fire department said. The resident was bedridden, and witnesses could hear her calling for help as smoke filled the second-floor apartment, local outlet Boston 25 News reports.
That’s when two cousins jumped into action. Sadush Brahimaj and Narti Qato heard the woman screaming for help and managed to climb up onto her porch, WCVB reports.
“It was so dark, it was so dark and smoky, we couldn’t see anything, just hearing her voice, ‘Help, help,’ all the time,” Brahimaj told WCVB. “We didn’t think anything else, we just went inside.”
The cousins tried twice to get inside the apartment building. The first attempt was “too much,” so Brahimaj said he used his jacket to cover his face like a mask.
“The second time we got her,” he told the outlet.
That’s when other residents joined in, shining their flashlights to help guide the men and the woman to safety, WCVB reports.
Crews arrived after the pair had pulled the resident from her burning bedroom onto the balcony, the local fire department said. Firefighters used a ground ladder to carry the woman down.
The woman was taken to Massachusetts General with burns and smoke inhalation injuries, NBC Boston reports. The two cousins were also hospitalized and released soon afterward, WCVB reports.
Woburn Fire Captain Bill Stukey praised their rescue efforts, Boston 25 News reports.
“A couple of the guys were able to get up onto the porch, get in through the slider,” Stukey said. “They went in the back and crawled through the smoke and actually dragged her out. They did a good job.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the Red Cross is now assisting residents impacted by the fire, according to Boston 25 News.
