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OGDEN - A man rescued his neighbor from his burning home in Ogden Thursday, quite possibly saving his life.
Ross Patterson saw flames coming from his neighbor's house near Fowler Avenue and Maple Street around 11 a.m. and ran over to help, but when he got there, he feared the worst.
"I started yelling in, trying to get his attention, trying to find out if I could hear him or anything like that, and I couldn't hear him," he said.
Someone passing through the neighborhood stopped to help. The stranger grabbed the garden hose and sprayed into the home to see if they could see past the smoke, but the fire was too much. Then Patterson and the stranger heard the neighbor call out from inside the home.
"He started hearing some groaning, and so he yelled down, ‘I hear some groaning.' So I jumped up and ran in there. Ran in and crawled down, got down and crawled in and found him and pulled him out. And the other gentleman helped me pull him out," Patterson said.
He helped his neighbor over to a driveway and gave him a blanket.
Fire crews and paramedics arrived minutes later, but Patterson's actions may have saved his neighbor's life.
Ogden Fire Capt. Casey Anderson said, "Fire crews initiated their fire attack and had control within 30 minutes. The home is a total loss. It burned completely through the roof, and the roof did collapse."
Patterson's neighbors call him a hero but he's modest about what he did.
"Anyone would do it, that's what they all say," he said. "I would do it again--it's a life, it's a life."
Patterson says he's grateful to the stranger who helped him.
The 76-year-old homeowner was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
E-Mail: aforester@ksl.com
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