A Good Samaritan rushed in and saved an injured man after an explosion ripped the front off of a Northeast Philadelphia row home.
The blast happened around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday at a home along Algard and Levick streets. NBC10 obtained surveillance video of the explosion.
"It was like a big bang," Marion Truszo, a neighbor, told NBC10.
Dozens of firefighters responded to the scene and poured water onto the exposed front of the house.
"Our units arrived to find the front of a building missing and collapsed and the second floor heavily involved in fire," Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said.
Rakym Dyer told NBC10 he was visiting the neighborhood at the time of the fire. He then realized a 61-year-old man was inside the home.
"I heard him crying and screaming so I went to help him out the best I could," Dyer said. "There was fire on the steps so I had to put the fire out on the steps first. Then I had to put him out when I went upstairs because he was on fire so I put him out with the extinguisher. Then I picked him up, put him on my shoulder and I came downstairs."
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The 61-year-old man was rushed to the hospital with undisclosed injuries. He is currently in stable condition.
"I can't believe I went in there. But once I heard people screaming, I wanted to go help him," Dyer said. "I would want someone to help my mom or my grand pop or somebody like that. Or my friend."
A second man was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation, police said.
SkyForce10 was over the scene shortly after 1:30 p.m. Debris and bricks were scattered all over the front lawn. By 2 p.m., any fire appeared to be out.
Both neighboring homes also appeared to have some exterior damage.
"We're thankful this incident had as positive an outcome as it could have," Commissioner Thiel said.
The cause of the blast was under investigation. PGW crews were on the scene, police said.
