A Hollywood grandfather is fighting for his life on Monday after an early morning fire turned into a dangerous escape.
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Fire rescue said it was around 6 a.m. when a mother, her two children and their grandfather were trapped on the second floor of a townhome in the 2800 block of Pierce Street after a fire sparked in the kitchen and flames blocked the staircase.
Fire officials say the man, who is in his 70s, was able to escape through a window and slide down a small roof under it, but was critically injured when he fell onto the ground.
NBC6 cameras captured the broken window through which the man escaped. A neighbor who did not want to provide her name said she was rocked by the man’s cries for help.
“I heard glass shatters and I thought somebody was just breaking in my house, so I jumped up. And a guy was screaming and he said fire, so I ran outside and I saw him sitting on the floor and actually all disheveled, and that’s how I called 911. By the time I came back to get my phone he was on the floor and gasping for air, and then I saw the fire,” she told NBC6. “The guy was screaming for help and nobody came out.”
The neighbor stayed with the man until first responders arrived. Hollywood police were the first on scene who spotted three other people still inside the burning home.
“There was a mother and her two children still on the second floor, which our [police] and fire crew were able to get down safely and they were transported as well,” Hollywood Fire Rescue Public Information Office Chai Kauffman said. “We learned that a male in his 70s had broken a window on the second floor and was able to escape, but he sustained a major head injury.”
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Rescue crews arrived to a raging fire, but gained control quickly. Ring video captured part of the response.
“I looked out the window I saw the lights then I looked to the left and see some smoke coming out and ran the hose and everything,” neighbor Victor Portillo said. “We saw them take the gentleman and we saw them pull out stretchers.”
Fire officials say the mother and children are doing OK, but the man remains in critical condition.
“I think I was crying on the phone it’s not a thing you want to wake up to,” the neighbor who helped the grandfather said. “I hope the family is OK though.”
Three officers were also taken to the hospital as a precaution while helping on scene.
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