"Never pet a burning dog."
Posted on 04/17/2015 2:51:50 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A mobile home in Miami was completely destroyed by an early morning fire Friday.
The fire started just before 3 a.m. at a mobile home at 8500 Biscayne Boulevard.
The mobile home was a roaring inferno. And by the looks of the flames, it would seem there's no way anyone could get out alive. But, two neighbors got involved, braved the heat and rescued a man.
A mobile home was destroyed and the homeowner badly burned by an early morning blaze in Miami.
"He was trying to escape from the fire, but we just help to get out from the window and he was bleeding," said neighbor Melvin Martinez.
Martinez and Manuel Lancas worked furiously to pull 52-year-old Randall Kleinder out of that small window. Another neighbor brought wire cutters to cut the fence, and an El Portal police officer joined in the effort as well.
"I'm happy because I gave help to a citizen," said Lancas. "I see blood there on the window, yeah because he was wounded inside, I don't know, maybe when he broke the glass he wound himself."
"He was very heavy and I couldn't hold him," he added. "And he was very scared."
Police tell NBC 6 Kleinder is in critical condition at the Ryder Trauma Center. He suffered burns, smoke inhalation, and cuts from broken glass.
The trailer is totaled, nothing is salvageable. This is a low-income area, so it's likely that Kleinder lost everything he owns in the fire, except for the affection of his neighbors. "It's very sad, I feel so sorry, he lose everything, I hope he get better," said neighbor Sandra Gonzalez.
Thankfully, Miami-Dade Fire and Miami Shores Rescue arrived quickly and managed to get the fire under control before it could spread to other homes.
"One of the big hazards of mobile homes, they're close to one another," explained Chief Edward Erickson of Miami-Dade Fire. "Any kind of wind driven fires could actually expand the fire from one home to the next to the next, which is a logistical problem at 3 in the morning."
Real heroes and brave neighbors. Great job guys!
Ricky or Julian the hero?
My bet is on Bubbles....
"Never pet a burning dog."
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