Neighbor Crawls Through Smoke To Rescue 2 Children From Fire

WEST LEBANON, N.H. (CBS) - A neighbor is being credited with crawling through smoke to rescue two young children from an apartment fire overnight.

Nine people were sent by ambulance to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center for possible smoke inhalation. No other injuries were reported.

The neighbor who rescued the children, a 24-year-old man, was not identified.

Fire officials said he rescued an infant and a 3-year-old child, who were in their bedrooms.

He reportedly crawled through smoke, resulting from heavy fire in the kitchen, to rescue the children.

Firefighters responded to The Village at Crafts Hill Apartments on Pine Tree Lane about 2 a.m. Friday for a fire alarm, fire officials said.

When they arrived, firefighters and police found a fire in a first-floor apartment, and they began evacuating four apartments in the building.

The fire went to one alarm, with mutual aid responding from Hartford, Hanover, and Enfield.

After finding heavy fire in the kitchen area, firefighters quickly extinguished the fire around 2:40 a.m. The unit sustained heavy fire damage and smoke damage was reported in neighboring units.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the fire. The American Red Cross also responded to assist displaced residents.

The two children and their mother remain hospitalized. Their conditions were not known Friday.

The unidentified neighbor who made the rescue has been released from the hospital.