Updated Monday, Feb. 16, 10:31 a.m.
Firefighters and a neighbor rushed to help the residents of a St. Albans home after a fire broke out in the two-story house early Saturday morning, published reports said.
A space heater ignited the blaze in the basement of the residence on 119th Road near 178th Street about 5:40 a.m., according to the FDNY. There were no working smoke detectors in the home.
Next-door neighbor Lawrence Leone saw the smoke streaming out of the house and, along with his brother, grabbed a ladder to try and rescue the people still inside, reports said.
The smoke had consumed the first floor and the only way the residents could escape was through the second story, Leone told CBS New York.
“I grabbed the ladder so I could put it by the roof so they could be able to climb down,” he said.
One person jumped to safety, another was able to get down on his own, and a third was too scared to use the ladder and had to be rescued by firefighters, according to published reports.
The residents were taken to Nassau University Medical Center in stable condition.
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