ATLANTA — An overnight fire at a southwest Atlanta apartment complex left one man injured and two units damaged.
Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes was at the Santa Fe Villla Apartments on Metropolitan Parkway, where the fire broke out Monday night. Neighbors say a space heater started the fire that left a man trapped in his home until a neighbor heard his cries for help.
Firefighters say the blaze started near the bathroom and the flames spread so quickly the door was blocked.
Firefighters broke out the windows to get the man out and ended up pulling him out of a back window.
A neighbor who heard his neighbor's screams said it was terrifying to hear, but he was glad to be able to help.
Jonathan Green had just gotten home from work Monday around 9 a.m. when he heard his neighbor in distress.
"I was scared myself. It was like a nightmare for me," Green said. "I was hearing that kind of noise, somebody saying, 'Help me! Help me!'"
When Green and his neighbors couldn't rescue the man themselves, they called 911.
"The firemen came. They had to come with a ladder and they pried him out of there," Green said.
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Green said he and other neighbors tried to help by getting the front door open with a mallet, but when they busted the door open there was nothing but flames.
Firefighters pulled the victim to safety. He was taken to a hospital but is expected to recover.
Green said the space heater caused the fire, though firefighters say said they are still investigating how it started.
"You've gotta keep things like that in a safe spot," Green said.