Roofer and neighbor alert Philadelphia family to house fire

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A neighbor and a contractor are being credited with helping a family escape a house fire and getting everyone out just in time.

The home on the 2100 block of McKinley Street in Northeast Philadelphia is charred and waterlogged after a fire ripped through just after 11 a.m.

It was at that time that roofer Matt Leader with Cover All Exteriors was climbing down a ladder from the house next door.

"I noticed smoke pouring out of the basement," said Matt Leader. He and his client, Benny, who lives next door, went straight to work.

"It was black smoke. Immediately, I start banging on the neighbor's door. I grabbed a hose, he grabbed a hose, and we start fighting the fire," recalled Benny.

As they worked to put out the fire, the man inside the home got his daughter out. But his teen son was sleeping upstairs as the flames started to grow.

"It's all black smoke, you can't really see anything," said Leader. "Started going up the steps, and that's where the kid was coming down. It looked like he couldn't really breathe well, so we all just helped and pulled him out."

With all three occupants evacuated, the fire department rolled in to extinguish the fire, which spread throughout the house.

Paramedics transported the teen, who was alert but suffering from smoke inhalation.

"He came downstairs and we had to drag him out and give him water," said Leader.

"One of the kids was almost out of it. It could have got bad, could have been worse," said Benny. "We were the alarm and we got them out. Now that you look back on it, it was awesome, we did it."

The family said the teen is being treated at the hospital but will be OK.