One man is being called a hero after he rescued several children from an apartment fire in West Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Devin Issacs said that he received a knock on his apartment door around 1:50 a.m. Friday from his neighbor repeatedly yelling," My babies!"
Issacs said he was met with smoke as he approached the door. " Flames were coming all the way up the wall in the kitchen," he said.
It was at that moment that his instincts kicked in.
"I knew there was kids involved and I promised her that I would get them out," he said.
"I grabbed [the toddler] and pushed her out," Issacs said. "The upstairs neighbor grabbed her, put her in the stroller and then my girlfriend pushed her out."
After Issacs got the toddler to safety, he grabbed the infant with the help of a neighbor who propped the door open for him.
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"I bear crawled in and then got the baby out," Issacs said.
The fire engulfed the kitchen, leaving the unit destroyed. "It's significant damage back to the studs, so quite a bit of work that needs to be done there before that unit's habitable again," said Andrew Winter, Executive Director of Twin Pines Housing.
Smoke from the fire spilled over into the other three units in the building, doing enough damage to leave all of the residents displaced.
Smoke alarms signaled the Lebanon Fire Department to the scene. Fire Chief Chris Christopoulos said that in total, there were about 20 fire fighters from their department, Hanover, Enfield, and a Hartford, Vermont station.
Eight residents were transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and have since been released.
"It's a great thing and I applaud [Issacs] for doing it, but on the other side of it, we want to caution people," said Christopoulos, who urged caution to any bystander running back into a burning building. He reminded the public that doing so can make someone a victim as well. However, Issacs said he would do it all over again.
"Houses can be replaced," Issacs said. "Lives can't."
Christopoulos said there has not been a cause determined for the fire yet, but officials do not believe it is suspicious.
The Red Cross is working with Twin Pines Housing to get the displaced residents shelter until they are able to return to their units.
