SAUGUS, Mass. --
Police and a neighbor came to the rescue Wednesday of a Saugus man who was trapped in a burning home.
NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the two-alarm fire broke out at about 1 a.m. at 30 Mount Vernon St.
Man Rescued From Burning Home
Salvatore Cagnina, 84, was trapped on the porch roof, and a neighbor ran over with a ladder.
"He came out of that middle window. He crawled out on his hands and knees to the edge of the roof," Cagnina's son, Joseph, said. "Luckily, police were doing a routine patrol, and they saw what was going on. They were yelling for a ladder."
"At that point, I ran downstairs. I was actually not dressed well in boxer shorts and no shoes, bare feet and aT-shirt. I ran across the street. I had grabbed my ladder, and I put it up on the house," neighbor Joseph Brangiforte said.
"Even when they got him out, they got him clothes, socks, a jacket," Salvatore Cagnina's daughter Laura Spacer said.
Saugus firefighters were also heroic in their efforts to save the house. Intense flames shot out the windows in roof, fueled by 30 mph winds.
Salvatore Cagnina was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, but he is expected to be OK. He lost his wife to cancer just two weeks ago.
"I wanted more time to be able to sit on the couch, where we used to sit. But he is OK. We will take care of him," Spacer said.
Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
