A Waterbury city worker says he was just in the right place at the right time when he helped save a woman from a fire in her home Friday morning.
But he’s understandably being hailed a hero.
“If that guy from Public Works didn’t come and get her, she wouldn’t be here right now,” said Cynthia Langone, referring to her client who lives on the second floor of the multi-family home on Crescent Street.
Langone was upstairs, inside cleaning when the fire started just before 10 a.m.
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“I went around the corner, and I heard a big pop and when I heard the big pop it just got black like automatically," she told NBC Connecticut.
Along with smoke and flames, Langone said the biggest challenge was getting her client, who needs a wheelchair, out of the house.
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She said it was tough task even with the help of the woman’s son, who also lives in the home.
"I kept telling her, ‘You got to help me, you got to help me. We’re going to die in this house. You got to use something.’ She couldn’t,” Langone said.
Pat Mulvehill heard Langone’s screams for help and jumped into action.
“I didn’t really think about it much, I knew I had to help her. I ran back to help. I knew I had to do something,” said Mulvehill, Waterbury’s deputy public works director.
He said he usually doesn’t spend too much time on the road for work. But Friday, with some colleagues on vacation, he had to drive across the city and was passing by when he saw the fire.
“When I pulled up, I saw the smoke and the window blow out. I saw the flames coming out of the window. So I ran up started banging on the doors,” he said.
As the cause of the fire is under investigation, neighbors who witnessed the chaos are just thankful for his bravery.
“Thank God they were able to get her out,” said Avrohom Weinberg, who ran outside his neighboring home with a fire extinguisher when he saw the flames.
“I was scared, I thought my life, I thought I was gonna be burned in that house,” said Langone, who also can’t thank Mulvehill enough.
Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary is calling the actions of Mulvehill, “nothing less than heroic."
His office said firefighters were able to respond to the scene within three minutes of the 911 call.
The first and third floor residents were not home at the time of the fire, and five residents were displaced, according to his office.
Mulvehill doesn’t consider himself a hero. He said he was just doing what a fire and police officer do every single day. He was happy to help.
