Good Samaritan helps rescue woman from Long Island house fire
CENTEREACH (WABC) -- A neighbor is being hailed a hero after he heard cries for help from a fully engulfed home across the street in Centereach.
"There's a lot of good people out there, I'm just glad one was across the street from me, because he saved my mother's life," said the victim's son, Jim Donnelly, "there was no doubt my mother would not be here if it wasn't for that man. No doubt."
43-year-old Thomas Earl climbed on a ladder along with two Suffolk County police officers. The three men climbed to the second story of the home to rescue ther 66-year-old woman who was trapped inside. The ladder broke, but Earl was able to protect the woman as they fell to the ground.
"He tried to take her out on a ladder, something went wrong with the ladder, but the ladder collapsed. And as they came down, he basically out his arms around her as they fell to let my mother fall on top of him," adds Donnelly.
Kenya Earl, Thomas' wife says that her husband taking the brunt of the fall definitely saved Donnelly from getting injured badly.
The fire at times was so intense that flames shot through the windows, while black smoke made it difficult for the four other people in the house to escape. However, they all did escape, some with smoke inhalation, but they are all expected to be fine.
Earl did suffer some injuries from the fall, but his wife tells Eyewitness News that he will be fine. Two of the family's pets were able to escape, but one dog did die in the fire.
Eyewitness News spoke with Jim Donnelly, the son of the woman saved from the fire, and Kenya Earl, the wife of rescuer Thomas Earl.
