ABC 12 – WJRT – Flint, MISaginaw firefighters rescue man from burning home

(02/06/12) - A Saginaw man is in serious condition after the home he was living in caught on fire. The man was rescued by firefighters.

Three other people escaped the fire, which happened Friday night in the 600 block of South Eleventh, on the city's east side.

"Heard the smoke detector going off, beep, beep, beep," said Phil Ray, who escaped the fire.

Ray was able to get one son out of his house, but his other son, who is 15 years old, had to escape through this second floor window.

"He climbed out the window and then he jumped onto the truck," Ray said.

Three were out, but 49-year-old Robert Allen was still upstairs.

"Bob was yelling, it's fire up here, I can't get out and I told him, first I told him to jump out the window, but he wouldn't do that, and the lady at 911 told me to tell him to lay down and put some blankets in front of the door," Ray said.

Saginaw firefighters Scott Yaw and James Elias were two of the emergency responders on the scene, and knowing someone was inside, immediately ran into the burning house.

"Soon as we are on scene, flames are coming out of the house..heavy smoke first and second floor," Yaw said. "No visibility, smoke, extreme heat."

"You can't see anything, you are just feeling your way around, you know he is in there, people told us he was in there," Elias said.

It was Elias who eventually felt Allen's body and the firefighters picked him up and ran down the stairs.

"Mad dash out of the house down the stairway," Elias said.

Allen is in serious condition at St. Mary's of Michigan in Saginaw.

"Gives him a chance, that's all we can do," Elias said. "When there is somebody in there, you are just doing whatever you have to do."

"It was chaotic, but everything just came together," Yaw said.

Ray's son was also hospitalized, but is doing better. The home was badly damaged, but Ray is thankful firefighters got there in time. "I got to thank them personally," he said.

The fire department and neighbors are having a difficult time getting in touch with relatives of Robert Allen.

They are asking anyone who might know them to give the fire department a call.