'Heroic' Man Uses Old Mattress to Help Save Mom and 2 Kids from Burning Building in Boston
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A Boston man is being hailed a hero for helping a family escape a burning building over Labor Day weekend.
The man, identified by The Boston Globe as 42-year-old Clidfod Saintjen, leapt into action early Saturday morning after realizing his next door neighbor's home on Delford Street in Roslindale was on fire.
The Boston Fire Department said in a statement that a mother and her two kids were trapped by the "heavy blaze" while on the second floor of their building.
Noticing this, the good Samaritan retrieved an old mattress he had placed against a nearby fence and used it to help them reach safety, per the Globe.
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A heroic job by the next door neighbor to save a mother and her 2 children who were trapped on the 2nd floor by heavy fire at the 3 alarm fire on Delford st. He put a mattress down for them to jump as he caught the 5 year old that the mother dropped out the window to him. pic.twitter.com/1XLevl5OD6
— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) September 3, 2022
"[It was] quick thinking to realize there was a mattress," BFD spokesperson Brian Alkins said while calling the man's actions "very heroic," according to ABC affiliate WCVB.
"Neighbors helping neighbors makes our job a lot easier," he added.
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Initially, the family was hesitant to jump from the second story. But their neighbor was ultimately able to change their minds.
"I tell them: 'Come on, come on. The fire is coming too close to us,'" Clidfod told the Globe and WCVB.
The mother then dropped her 5-year-old to the man before she and her other child jumped onto the mattress he placed under the window, WCVB reported.
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In total, nine residents — five adults and four children — were displaced by the fire, per the outlets. Two firefighters were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and have since been released.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
But despite saving lives, Clidfod told the Globe, "I don't feel like a hero."
"When that happens everyone is supposed to get scared, but when you see fire, people in the fire, you know what the fire means [for them]," he added.
