An 11-year-old girl trapped by fire inside her Somersworth, New Hampshire, home was saved by a man who heard her screams for help.
The rescue happened before firefighters even got to the scene.
Now, inside a Dover, New Hampshire, hotel room, Wendy Fife is counting her blessings.
"If it wasn't for him, my daughter wouldn't be with me right now," Fife began.
Her daughter Shania was just minutes from being overcome by fire while home alone inside their apartment.
"I saw smoke and then I couldn't breathe. I tried to hide under a blanket but that wasn't good," Shania said.
Shania was trapped- she couldn't get out of the front door- and the window was too high to jump.
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"All i could see is smoke and a little girl in the window yelling 'fire, fire my house is on fire,'" said David Roberts.
Roberts, who was in the area visiting his sister, jumped this fence and grabbed a ladder to get to the little girl.
"He said 'you're going to be okay, hold on. I promise,'" Shania said.
Shania wasn't hurt, but she and her mom lost everything, including their five parrots. And while firefighters did everything they could to save their dog, Champ, the vet tells Wendy, he inhaled too much smoke to survive.
Right now, Shania and Wendy don't have much, but they say inside their hotel room, they've got all they really need.
"I want to thank David so much for being a hero and saving my daughter's life," Fife said.
"I don't feel like a hero- I just did what anyone else would have done," Roberts said.
Officials say the fire started when a pan of oil left on the hot stove ignited while Shania was home alone.
The mom who lives on the second floor tells us she was able to escape fire with her two young kids and their dog. Nobody is quite sure when or if they'll be able to go home.
