CLEVELAND — Just days before Christmas, a mother and her two young children are safe after their home caught fire.
Thursday night, around 8 p.m., Cleveland firefighters received a call about a mother and her children trapped inside the home at 1701 Spring Rd.
"As soon as we [got] there, there's smoke showing. There's a woman on the balcony with her two babies screaming I'm stuck, I'm trapped, I'm trapped," said Cleveland Firefighter Lewis Rodriguez.
Firefighters believe the fire started in the kitchen of the downstairs unit, trapping the mother and children upstairs with nowhere to go.
"I grabbed the 20-foot [ladder] threw it up there, able to grab the babies, bring them down, pass them to a fellow fireman, and go back up and grab the other one," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez, a father himself, rescued those two young children and their mother down the tall ladder to safety.
"It was crazy. I mean, it was for sure the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. I have babies of my own too," said Rodriguez.
Cleveland Police tried to enter the home first, but the smoke was so heavy they couldn't see a hand in front of them.
"She was giving the babies a bath before you know it. She probably [had] the door closed behind her. She probably opened the door, and there was nothing but smoke," Rodriguez explained.
911 dispatchers also played a big role in this, guiding the mother safely out of the house to the balcony.
"When she got on the porch, she closed the door right behind her which is what the dispatcher told her to do. Which saved her from getting a bunch of smoke," Rodriguez said.
The American Red Cross also pitched in, giving money to all five of the people who lived in the duplex who cannot be at home for the holidays.
"It's a sad thing that this happened to their home [around] Christmas, but it's just good that they were able to make it out. It makes you appreciate your family even more around the holidays," Rodriguez said.
