A Bridgeport man with some experience fighting fires sprang into action on Sunday morning and used that knowledge to help his neighbors out of their burning home.
At first, Juan Carlos Saravia didn’t know his neighbors were in trouble, but then he heard shouts and ran to one side of his home.
"I heard somebody call me, 'Hey, Juan Carlos! Hey, Juan Carlos, help me!’” he said.
He ran downstairs in his pajamas.
At first, he was unsure of how to react, but then the experience from his six years as a firefighter in his native country of El Salvador kicked in.
He went outside, picked up a ladder from in his backyard and flung it against the home at 1372 Wood Ave., where the Polanco family was trapped on the second floor.
Saravia, who is now retired, credits some of what he learned in El Salvador to his rescue here.
He said has lived in his Bridgeport home for six years with his two sons and his wife, Maria, and is happy to have been able to help a neighbor.
Investigators are not sure what caused the fire, but they think it started in the basement.
